


Seasons in Paris

by greeneyedciel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Autumn, Brothers AU, Cinnamon Roll Adrien Agreste, Confused Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Friendship, Jealous Adrien Agreste, Jealous Chat Noir, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Multi, Mystery, Season 1, Season 2, Summer, Vigilantism, brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 117,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9505013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneyedciel/pseuds/greeneyedciel
Summary: When Mr. Agreste reaches out to his other son Felix to spend the summer in Paris with himself and Adrien, things become complicated. Felix discovers that Adrien is actually Chat Noir, befriends Marinette, and realizes that the innocent trip to Paris is not all that it seems. Can Felix help save Adrien and Marinette from Hawk Moth in time?Adrien's jealousy hits an all-time high when he discovers his brother is good friends with Marinette, so he takes it upon himself to swoon his Princess Chat Noir style. Will Adrien be able to realize the trap that is being laid in order to save his lady and newly found brother?





	1. Felix's Delay

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, 
> 
> This is my first attempt at fanfiction! I hope you guys enjoy it :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: Hey everyone. I'm combining the series into one work titled Seasons in Paris. It will always be Summer in Paris, But it's No Fairy Tale in my heart <3 I just thought by this would make things easier on my new readers, and hopefully my faithful readers don't mind the change too much. 
> 
> I hope you all understand! <3

**Felix**

I inhaled the delicious Gauloises in a swift breath. I let out a breathy sigh realizing I was only delaying the inevitable with my dallying in the afternoon Paris sun. I watched the busy street full of Parisians and tourists alike from the café garden as I flicked the ash from my cigarette. I thought back to that day three weeks ago that changed my life forever.

 _“Son, can I speak with you for a moment?”_ Mom knocked on my bedroom door.

 _“Sure Mom.”_ I opened my poster plastered wooden door.

 _“How would you like to see your father?”_ Mother stepped into my sanctuary, and her motherly aura began to contaminate my male space. I remember how I felt that day perfectly: frustrated, annoyed, and wondering why she would bring this up again? Oh, how I wished I didn’t know who my real father was anymore when the waitress arrived with my coffee and croissant. “Merci beaucoup,” I said absent minded as I noticed the plump pigeons who waddled around the stone path. I always heard Paris had a pigeon problem. Now they have an obese pigeon problem. 

Why would he even want to see me now? The man hid his mistake from most of the world including his other son, and now he decided to reach out my American mom in America right before my 18th birthday to spend some quality father/son time? It was truly unexpected. He missed 17ish years of my life, and only wanted to see me now. What kind of man was Mr. Agreste?

 _“I’m a tough tooting baby, I can punch-a your buns! Punch-a your buns, I can punch all your buns! If you’re an evil witch I will punch you for fun!"_ My ringtone went off, and that was when I realized people in France must not know about Adventure Time. Blushing I answered my phone, “Hello?” I really should have said bonjour, I mentally kicked myself.

“Felix, where are you?” The voice hissed at me.

“I was just grabbing breakfast.” I answered.

“You can have breakfast here. I want you to leave immediately before we’re behind schedule.”

Behind schedule, “Yes of course. How silly of me to forget.” I pushed the cigarette out into a nearby ashtray. “I’ll leave right now, and should be there in fifteen minutes.” The behind schedule rang in my ears as I stood from that table. I suppose that answered my question of what Mr. Agreste was like.

“I will be waiting.” He ended the phone call at that.

“Well I can already tell we won’t be getting along.” I muttered under my breath reaching for another cigarette. What a long summer this would be.


	2. Adrien's Dismay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Fanfiction :D Thanks for all the support! 
> 
> I'm switching between Felix's and Adrien's point of view for this story.

**Adrien**

“But Dad-“

Father held up his hand to silence me, “Just go out with your friends Adrien, and let me spend some time alone with Felix.”

I opened my mouth to protest but shut it. Who am I to turn down a day hanging out with friends? I ran out the large front door towards the silvery car door waiting for me. I threw it open myself and slid inside angrily. How dare father keep a brother of mine secret from me! I clenched my fists till I could feel that my nails cut into my palm. How could he not let me greet him during his first day in Paris? Today was a new low for my father’s heartlessness to reach, and the realization stung.

“Take me to Nino’s house s'il vous plaît,” I instructed Gorilla who had already pulled out of the driveway. I glared out the window hoping that I would see Felix coming to the Agreste manor, but I doubted if I would recognize him anyway. Was he blond like I was? Did he look like his mom or father? My mind ran with possibilities trying to piece together what he could look like. 

I texted Nino the details of what happened, and secretly hoped he would tell Alya to investigate. I didn’t have to wait long for Nino to reply, but I didn’t feel like or even know how to respond. I was only told I had a brother this morning and that he would be coming to Paris for a whole summer.

The shiny grey car pulled to a stop, and I jumped out before Gorilla could make a move to assist. I sprinted to Nino’s apartment up the long rickety stairs. Door number 6 was already open for me.

“Dude, what the hell is going on!”

“I have no idea.” I barreled into his apartment grateful he would help me work everything out.

“You have a brother you didn’t even know about, and he’s already in Paris!”

“Yes!”

“But, how?”

I walked into his living room to plop down on the worn red sofa. “My father told me this morning that it was before he started dating my mom. In his words it was ‘a horrible mistake’ that he regretted the next day.”

Nino covered his mouth, “You’re dad had a one night stand!” Nino coughed, “Sorry dude I’m not trying to laugh, but your dad…doing that.”

I shook my head, “I know dude.” I sighed as I pushed my bangs back, “Apparently she was a very attractive model.”

“Aren’t they all?” Nino elbowed me.

I shoved his elbow away, “Yeah, but that’s not the point. I guess she never told him she was pregnant then moved to America.”

“That’s shitty.”

I nodded in agreement before I continued, “He didn’t even realize that Felix was his son till they reconnected at some event. I guess they talked it over, and Felix finally agreed to spend the summer here.”

“Well that’s a weird story, but I guess it happens.” Nino grabbed my shoulder, “And now you have a brother! How awesome is that?”

I shrugged, “That’s what I was thinking.” I leaned against the back of the sofa filled with sadness. “He didn’t want me to meet him today.”

“Dude, it’s just this morning. It sucks that you can’t be there to greet him, but there’s always tonight.”

I perked up, “Yeah that’s true.” I hadn't even thought of that! I could spend time with him tonight.

“Plus he’ll be done packing, so you guys can spend more time together.” Nino smiled.

I gave Nino my first real smile of the day, “Dude, you’re right. I guess I overreacted for nothing.”

“You just found out you have a brother! You’re having a totally normal reaction.”

Just then the front door jiggled. “Oh that’s probably Alya, I forgot I locked the door.” As soon as Nino unlocked the door, it burst open.

“Adrien, you have a brother!” Alya squealed dragging Marinette behind her.

“I’m ha-happy for you Adrien. It’s super excited- I mean exciting!” Marinette’s face turned bright red.

I chuckled at Marinette’s expense, “Yes it is exciting.”

“Give us the details boy!” Alya shoved Nino out of his spot near Adrien. “Is he as handsome as you?” Alya winked.  

“Actually I don’t know.” I scratched the back of my blonde head embarrassed that I knew so little of my brother.

“You don’t?” Alya immediately picked up her phone, “What’s his name.”

“Felix.”

Alya furiously typed, “Wait his last name isn’t Agreste?”

I shook my head, “I don’t think so, but I don’t even know his mom’s last name either. I know she used to model, but that's about it.”

Alya frowned in defeat, “We’ll figure this one out. Don’t worry Adrien.”

“I knew I could count on my best bud’s girl.” I gave her a half smile that didn't reach my eyes. 

“Adrien, it’ll be okay.” Marinette soothed.

I looked into Marinette’s bluebell eyes that reminded me so much of Ladybug’s. “Thanks Marinette,” I whispered. I could always count on Marinette to make me feel better. Afterall, that's what true friends are for. 

Nino cleared her throat, “Why don’t we head to the movies?”

Alya’s face lit up, “Or we could spy on Adrien’s house to see if we can get Felix to come with us.” She had a devilish grin on her face.

“We better not. My father was pretty determined to keep me away for the morning.” I stood up from the couch causing Mari to jump.

“A-Adrien’s right. Let’s go to the movies.” She stuttered.

“I guess so.” Alya huffed.

“Oh, we could see that cheesy looking comedy that just came out.” Said Nino as he grabbed Alya’s hand.

“That sounds perfect.” I could use a few laughs.


	3. Felix's Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meeting scene finally arrives with both points of view! Thanks for all the support <3
> 
> p.s. Marche is to walk in French, and isn't correctly used in the story due to Felix's poor knowledge of French. I guess Dulingo didn't work for him after all.

**Felix**

The whole morning was a whirlwind of demands, rules, and finally setting up my room. I sat on my new bed unable to process everything that was asked of me.

 _“I typed up a clear list of rules and your schedule.”_ Gabriel handed me the list after he greeted me.

I crunched the paper in my hand, “Rules.” I muttered. The guy didn’t even say it’s nice to see you! Sorry, I wasn’t aware of your existence, but hey let’s spend the summer together with fifty rules and scheduled meetings. “God this summer is already off to a bad start.” I collapsed on my crisp white bed furious that there wasn’t an easier way to sneak out of here.

 _“You’re room will overlook the backyard, and don’t get any ideas about sneaking out young man. There's two security cameras overlooking the backyard.”_ Natalie told me.

Adrien’s room didn’t have cameras… at least I couldn’t recall Natalie or Gabriel mentioning it. I sat up from the bed then threw my legs over. “Well, dear dad did say no smoking in the house.” A devilish grin crossed my face. I opened the white door to peer out into the empty hallway. I snuck into the room that I knew was Adrien’s from the tour. Easy to remember since it was across from mine. I shut the door gingerly as I tiptoed into his room barely acknowledging how huge or awesome it was because I was ready to make my grand escape. I opened his glass door and leaned over the elegant balcony that reminded me of Jasmine’s from Aladdin. I saw bright green bushes below.

“Perfect,” I grunted as I planted butt on the railing. “Here goes nothing.” I shoved myself off the ledge and felt the afternoon air swirl around me until I hit the bushes ten seconds later. I said a silent prayer that no one noticed the indent I made in a now very bent, sparsely green bush. Whoops.

“Shit.” What I failed to realize is that the wall, which surrounds the estate, was very high, and very smooth. I ran my palm over it to feel the perfectly smooth beige wall. Dreams of freedom sank into a deep abyss, but at least I could smoke without complaint. I turned my head towards the front gate that I knew wouldn’t open without Natalie’s consent.  

“Well, this will be an awkward conversation with Natalie.” I picked a leaf out of my bangs letting out a large sigh. I reached into my jean’s pocket to pull out a Gauloises when…

“Just what do you think you’re doing down there!” I turned to spy a very angry Gabriel and Natalie headed towards a flashy white sedan that seemed appropriate with Gabriel’s strict yet boring personality.

“Oh um, I just wanted to see the garden.”

“I know exactly what you wanted to see, and there is no way over that wall young man.” Gabriel’s stern gaze focused on me.

“It’s a very nice wall now that I notice.”

“Yes it is, now I would like you to go back inside to start your French lesson.” Gabriel stepped back to have Natalie take me back inside the daunting manor.

Natalie led me into the large dining room, “Adrien won’t be back till later, and no tutor was available on such short notice.” Natalie pulled out a tablet. “Dulingo will have to do.”

My whole face fell, “Seriously?”

Natalie shrugged, “At least you’ll know the basics.” Her heels clicked against the white marvel floor until she left.

“I already know the basics.” I picked up the tablet anyway. “I miss my mom already.”

 

I spent an hour on a couple games until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I threw the tablet on the table. “So bored.” I sprawled over the fancy dining chair. “I’m going to die from boredom,” I called to no one in particular. Of course, no one appeared. No one was home.

I stood up to put the chair back when I heard a thud from a room upstairs. “Maybe someone is here.” I ran up the large front steps that turned to the long hallway when I heard a conversation between two people.

“How are you going to explain this to your friends?” The voice sounded like a child’s.

“I’ll just say I had to run back here for something.” A teenager’s voice answered.

“Why so you can wash off yet another rejection from Ladybug?” The child snickered.

I noticed the voices were from Adrien’s room. His door wasn’t shut all the way due to my earlier shenanigans. I peered inside, but only saw a blond teenager.

“Haha, very funny Plagg.” The boy opened a door to reveal a really fancy bathroom.

“All I’m saying is maybe you should try dating someone who actually likes you.” A black mouse appeared out of nowhere.

I stepped back in shock then blinked a few times. What kind of projection was that? I heard the door shut, and water run before I peeked back through the crack again. The black mouse or cat thing floated towards the couch near a large black tv with cheese in its hands.

“What?” I whispered to myself utterly confused. I opened the door just a crack more, but the black thing didn’t seem to notice. I opened it a little more, and a little more until I squeezed myself through. I snuck towards it from the back hoping my hands would just run right through it to prove that it was just a weird projection. No way this thing was real. Adrien wasn't Timmy Turner and that thing wasn't a Fairy Godparent.

“Adrien?” The thing called.

I leapt forward, and my hands closed around it. “Ah!” I threw it out of my hands as quickly as I grasped it. “You’re real!”

“Adrien! Someone who looks like you is trying to kidnap me!” The black thing flew through the bathroom door.

“This cannot be happening.” I sat on the couch in a state of shock.

“Plagg Transformez-moi!” I heard a shout from the bathroom. Then a cat boy burst through the door holding a silver staff. “Alright thief prepare to…”  

“Who the hell are you?” I fell off the couch.

**Adrien**

Oh no. Plagg said there was an intruder, not that Felix had just wandered into my room. His light blond hair tousled, and he gazed at me with stunned grey eyes.

“Where did that ugly black mouse go, and why are you here?” Felix scrambled across the floor to grab fencing trophy of mine and thrust it out in front of him.

I tried to think of what to say when my ring started to beep again. “Great,” I muttered.

“Adrien, is that you?” Felix lowered the trophy with a raised eyebrow.

“No,” I said unconvincingly.

“Why are you dressed like…that?”

“It’s for a modeling shoot!” Of course, I realized the perfect last-minute solution. Just then my computer screen blinked and a notification from the Lady blog opened up. Damn my obsession with Ladybug.

“LadyBug and Chat Noir save Paris once again,” Alya announced happily before the clip ran.

Felix turned to me, “You’re that guy?” Felix put the trophy back on my desk.

“Yeah.” I said defeated.  

“Are you-not like it matters to me-“ Felix put an arm behind his back, “You know what never mind. You can just tell me when we get to know each other better.”

I frowned, “Okay.” Just then the last beep released me from my transformation.

“Great Adrien way to blow the secret to some guy you never even met.” Plagg crossed his arms. “This is rule number one.”

“You’re the one who told me some guy was in my room!”

“Because some guy was in your room.” Plagg bopped my nose then flew inside my mini fridge.

“I didn’t realize I was breaking another rule,” Felix said with venom in his voice.

“Yeah, there are a lot of rules around here,” I said awkwardly. “I’m Adrien by the way.”

“Felix.” Felix put his hand out.

“I figured as much," I rushed to shake his hand, but wished I could understand what Felix was thinking. “So what did you want to talk to be about?”

“Huh?”

“You know when you said earlier something you wanted to talk to me about. You don't really have to wait to know me better. We're related.”

“Oh, that!” Felix blushed, “Well that can wait till we have some guy time. No need to bring it up now especially when I first met you-not like what I wanted to ask you would matter because I am I am completely supportive of you no matter what gender you would happen to-“ Felix turned towards the door, “How about we just go for a nice marche around Paris?” Felix ran to the door.

I grimaced when I realized what he had been blubbering about, “I’m in love with Ladybug.” I shouted stomping after him. 

Plagg flew behind me with a snicker, “Maybe that’s why Ladybug never flirts with you.”

“Shut up Plagg.”


	4. Felix Makes Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien introduces Felix to Nino, Alya, and Marinette for the first time! Thanks for all the support :)

**Felix**

Adrien showed me around Paris as we journeyed to his friend Nino’s apartment. We passed dozens of shops, a park, and large apartment buildings.

“This isn’t the most appealing view of Paris, but we can take a scenic tour tomorrow if father doesn’t have a shoot scheduled.”

Adrien was nothing like I expected him to be. He was pleasant, a little shy, and excited about anything to do with his friends. Maybe the four year age gap between us was showing, or maybe I was just a shitty friend, but I couldn’t remember the last time I was excited about anything to do with my friends. “So what are your friends like?” I asked.

“Nino is my best friend, and he’s a DJ.” Adrien shrugged, but I could see the smirk on his face. “He’s planning on sneaking me into a club or two over summer.”

So maybe my rambunctious spirit came from Gabriel? “You’ve never been to a club?” I chuckled at Adrien.

“No, but that ends this weekend.” Adrien straightened up. “Alya and Marinette are coming too. Alya is Nino’s girlfriend, that’s who runs the lady blog, and Marinette is an aspiring designer. She’s clumsy, but a lot of fun.”

“So is that your girlfriend?” I regretted my assumption from earlier about his sexuality.

“No, she’s just a friend of mine. Sometimes I wonder how she really feels about me because she can act pretty weird around me.”

“Weird how?”

“You’ll probably see today if she joins. I get the feeling like I scare her.” Adrien whipped out his cellphone to text Nino.

I stared down the busy roads and wondered how all these cars fit on such tiny streets. We passed a large ad for Agreste clothing brand with Adrien’s face plastered on it, and I turned back to Adrien. The dude was attractive, but I couldn’t say the guy was supermodel material. He seemed like a giant cinnamon roll who liked to run around in a tight leather catsuit. “Do your friends know you’re cat boy?”

“Chat Noir, and no they don’t.” Adrien turned to a beige brick apartment building with a deep green roof. “Nino said to head on up.” Adrien lead the way up a flight of long rickety stairs then turned to apartment 6.

The door swung open before Adrien could knock, “Dude, is this him?”

“Bonjour.” I stuck my hand towards him.

“Nice to meet you bro.” He shook my hand. “Hey Alya, Marinette they’re here!” Nino stepped back from the door frame to let us both through.

“Oh, I want to see!” A curvy brunette with glasses bounded towards us from the left. She stopped in her tracks to stare right at Adrien and I. “Oh my gosh, you guys look so much alike!” She squealed.

“Do we?” Adrien and I turned to each other.

“Eh kind of.” Nino shrugged unimpressed.

“Ignore him, I can totally tell you guys are brothers.” Alya reached for her phone, “So Felix, what’s your last name since it’s not Agreste?” She peered at me over her red and black spotted smartphone.

“It's Finch like the bird,” I answered. I noticed Alya had her shoes on, but Nino took his off. I pressed my weight to my right foot anxious if I should take my shoes off or not.  

“Any plans to change it to Agreste now that you know who your dad is?”

“Um, I don’t believe so?” Who was this girl, I thought to myself a tad annoyed. Questions about myself made me uncomfortable.

“Babe, could we hold off on the investigative reporter till the guy settles in.”

Alya pouted, “Sorry. Sometimes I let myself get carried away.”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged.

“So how is your French?” Alya lead us through a short narrow hallway to a back bedroom.

“Passable, but I’m sure with Adrien’s help I’ll get better.”

“Is that- oh hi!” A short Asian girl stood up from a bean bag chair. “I was just- I mean we were just playing Mechastrike 3.” She had black pigtails, wore pink jeans, and a flowy white top. She was pretty cute in a very innocent sort of way.

“You must be Marinette; Adrien has told me all about you.” I stuck out my hand as I watched her face turn tomato red.

“He-he has?” She gasped.

“He told me you were the next big up and coming designer.”

“Oh well I um merci- I mean thank you!” She stuttered.

Marinette and I were going to get along just fine. But when I turned back to Adrien, I noticed he wore a serious frown. “So do you wanna verse me?” I fell onto the black beanbag chair.

“Oh yeah sure.” She waved at me in an awkward way before she took up the controller.

 

Over the next two hours, I hung out with Adrien’s friends while we played video games and talked until Adrien received a very angry call from Natalie. I was apparently supposed to be in my room until Gabriel and Natalie returned from their meeting.

“Tell father we’re headed right over there.” Adrien paused, “Well we just walked to Nino’s. Of course Natalie, I’ll remember to call him next time. Sure you can send him over to pick us up.” Adrien’s tone of defeat caused my stomach to knot with guilt.

“I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“It’s not your fault. I guess Natalie said it was in the schedule you balled up in your room.”

“So it really is my fault- wait she went in my room?”

“Yeah apparently to take the cigarettes you have.”

My face made a betrayed expression, “I guess I should have known.” So that’s how it’s gonna be Gabriel, I thought to myself angrily. “I guess we’ll know how in trouble I am if I get shipped back to Chicago tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I walked to the door. “It was nice meeting all of you.” I smiled.

“You too! Maybe we can hang out tomorrow if you can?” Alya picked up her phone with a wink. She elbowed Marinette.

“That would be so-super- I mean that would be great- I mean…” She put her face in her left palm.

“See you tomorrow Marinette!” I gave her one last smile before Adrien shoved me out the door. “So are we seeing them tomorrow?” I asked Adrien.

“I think I’m going to stick to my plans with Nino, besides the girls wanted to go to this exposition at the mall.” Adrien showed me towards the car with a very grim, buff looking driver. Adrien slid into the back seat, and I followed him.

The car was nice, but the driver I could have done without. I gazed out the window as traffic whizzed around us, and I secretly wished Adrien and I could have just walked back. I just wanted to be outside and explore Paris. I could already tell the no walking rule would be my most frequently broken rule. Not walking in Paris was stupid.

Too soon we pulled up to the Agreste manor with a stoic Natalie standing at the door, which reminded me of the royal guard outside of Buckingham Palace. Natalie wore black with a red blouse as the only pop of color. “You’re father wishes to speak to you both.” She announced as soon as we opened the car door.

I saw Adrien hang his head, but I just raised my eyebrow. Why would I take any of these talks seriously? I followed a sad Adrien, and noisy Natalie over to the large office on the right. I counted how many times her heels clicked against the floor as she walked away: one, two, three, four, five-

“I am very disappointed in you Adrien. You know I don’t like you to walk anywhere by yourself in the city.”

“But, father Felix was with me.” Adrien argued.

“Felix is a visitor who can barely speak French. What would have happened if you had gotten lost, or worse?” Gabriel fired back.

“Father, I’m fifteen now. I can walk six blocks by myself. I wasn’t even walking alone.” Adrien sounded desperate to make Gabriel understand him.

I already knew this would be like the time I tried to convince my Calculus teacher, Ms. Smart, to pass me with an A by flirting with her. Almost, but not quite, which perfectly summed up this conversation. I had to help, “I have a red belt in karate, so I am positive we would have been perfectly safe.”

My joke falls on deaf ears, but I did earn a very annoyed glare from Gabriel. “That is not amusing, and karate will be added to your list of things to do.”

“What? I stopped taking karate in like 7th grade.” Damn my need to help, I thought bitterly.

“No son of mine is going to stop short of perfection. I want a black belt by the end of the summer.” Gabriel wrote out a post-it note with the words karate for Felix on it.

I took a deep breath, “I’ll do it if Adrien joins.”

“Adrien is already far ahead of you.” Gabriel smirked.

I turned to Adrien surprised who shrugged in response. “Fine,” I said. I didn't correct Gabriel on how impossible it was to earn a blackbelt in a three-month time span.

“You have a lot of improvements to make over this summer, but I’m sure you will succeed.” Gabriel stood proud.

“I’ll do it, but I want Adrien and I to have one day a week to do what we want.” I smiled feelin' ballsy.

Gabriel scoffed, “No there isn’t time.” His face suddenly turned very contempt, “Besides you don’t have an incentive for me to allow such... wastefulness.”

I already knew where this was headed, and I would make this sacrifice, “I’ll give up smoking.”

Gabriel feigned surprise, “Would you?”

I rolled my eyes at the obviousness of the whole situation, “Yes. Adrien and I get one day off to do whatever we want no matter what.”

“It’s a deal then.” Gabriel stuck out his hand.

I pulled the pack out of my pocket then placed it in his hands. I shook his right hand with an angry gaze. “Yeah dad, a good deal indeed .”


	5. Adrien and Felix's Mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that the foundation has been laid, the plot thickens. Thanks for all the support :D

Adrien

I could not process what Felix just did for me. “You got me a day of,” I said stunned.

“Yeah, what are brothers for?” He muttered gruffly.

I felt like I could float on air. I hadn’t had a day off every single week since I was ten! My mind raced with the possibilities of what we could do: go to Nice, visit Montreal, or even  go to the Swiss Alps if we left early enough in the morning. I pulled out my phone to text Nino the good news. _Nino, you are gonna flip when I tell you what happened!_

I glanced up from my phone to see Felix headed to his room, “Hey did you want to hang out some more?” I asked struck with a sudden shyness.

Felix shrugged, “Sure why not. Will your mouse thing be joining us?”

“I am not a mouse!” Plagg hissed from my jacket pocket. “I am an all-powerful kwami who- Oh cheese!” Plagg flew from me into the mini fridge like the glutton he was.

“You’re room is awesome by the way.” Felix looked but stopped at the rock climbing wall.

“I’ll race you if you want,” I smirked.

“Oh it’s on.” Felix bolted ahead. “Clearly I need to make up for the years of not kicking your butt.”

“I think you have that backward.” I moved up the wall skillfully. Felix wasn’t a bad climber, but not as skilled as me. I reached the top in record time since I was showing up Felix.

“I am su-purr-ior.”

“Oh dude that-that was just awful.” Felix huffed climbing down. “I still got to the ground first.” He bent over his knees to rest.

“Ladybug always says the same thing, neither of you clearly realize the purr-fection of my puntastic talents.”

“Okay, that one was a little better.” Felix stood up, “So when does Cat Boy hangout with Ladybug?”

I shrugged still at the top of the wall ledge. “Normally whenever akuma attack happens.”

“You don’t hangout or patrol?”

I messed with my shirt, “Not normally.” I replied in a sad tone. My deepest fear was  Ladybug never wanted to know who I was even after a year of crime fighting. I grew increasingly disappointed and resigned as the days went on thinking this was true, “She doesn’t think revealing our identities to each other is a good idea.”

Felix backed away from the wall with his hands behind his head, “Makes sense, but what if I figured it out for you?” Felix lounged on my sofa.

If Felix found out who she was, then he could just tell me. That wouldn’t break any rules Ladybug laid out for me, but it did make an uneasy knot in my stomach. “Well maybe…”

“I honestly was just going to follow you when you went out anyway.” Felix turned on my Gamestation.

“You could barely even climb my wall.” I scoffed at him. "There's no way you could keep up with me as Chat Noir."

“So I need to brush up on my parkour.” Felix started to play an old racing game I had.

“It’s more than that. Haven’t you ever seen me in action?” I climbed down the wall.

“Nope.”

“Well, when I’m Chat Noir I get special abilities from Plagg.”

“Flying black mouse thing?”

“Cat!” Plagg shouted between bites.

“Whatever, and if you keep eating like that Gabriel is going to think Adrien is getting fat.” Felix poked a finger at Plagg’s gut as he floated around us.

“Actually camembert is low in carbs, so I’m allowed to eat up to ten pieces”

Felix made a weird face, “He has you on a low carb diet?”

“Yeah. You’re probably going to be put on the same one.”

Felix groaned then fell off the couch. “But, I’m not fat. I have abs.”

“To be honest you could use some work.” I bent over him.

Before I knew what happened my butt smacked the floor, “And you could use some too.”

 

That night I decided to go out with Felix. “Felix, hurry up.” I tapped my black boot impatiently.

“Not all of us have a magical bondage outfit to run around in.” Felix hissed from the bathroom.

“I didn’t pick the costume.” I hissed back. I happened to like my costume even if it did remind me of something I saw in porn video.

Felix opened the bathroom door in head to toe black with subtle pops of color. He had a bright blue mask that stood out against the black and green Chat Noir hoodie Marinette made me a couple months ago. “I feel ridiculous.” Felix pulled the cat-eared hoodie up.

I shrugged, “Well I don’t have any other paw-some options, so you’re stuck with it unless you have your own bondage outfit.” I leaned against my window then flipped it open.

“Sadly I left it back home.”

“Not like you’d be using it anyway.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be the one wearing it. I prefer to be the Dom.”

I laughed, “Sure you do.”I grabbed Felix’s hand. “Come on.” I grabbed my staff to project ourselves out of this prison. I loved the feel of the night air against my face but could have done without Felix’s extra weight that threatened to dislodge my right arm from its socket. I threw us onto our neighbor’s roof with a thud, which was very un-Chat Noir-like. “Follow me.” I ran forward then jumped to the next roof with cat-like grace. I turned to gloat, but Felix already landed.

“And who said I was out of shape?”

I rolled my eyes, “Let’s not get a cat-titude about it.”

“With those puns, it’s no wonder Ladybug doesn’t patrol with you.” Felix ran ahead to backflip to the next roof. “Ha!” He shouted before he fell on his butt.

“She finds me very punny even if she never admits it.” I tried not to laugh at Felix’s wipeout. He actually had skill when he put his mind to the task instead of showing off.

“Plagg, if you can hear me, make him stop.” Felix leapt to the next roof.

I almost enjoyed this as much as my Ladybug run-ins. Felix was way better than I ever had imagined. After that strained year in the Agreste household, Felix’s presence was a breath of fresh air. Fresh air that brought freedom. He stood up to my father, could keep up with Chat Noir, and was bound to teach me the art of causing trouble. I smiled at the thought of this, and I finally felt myself enjoy my newfound liberation.

“Oh look it’s Chat Noir and a kitten.” A female voice taunted.

I spun in my tracks. “The one and only,” I said suavely.

Felix swerved to my side, “You just had to have a hoodie with cat ears.” He muttered under his breath to me.  

“Who are you supposed to be newbie?” The female voice carried from a different area now.

“The new trainee, what does it matter to you?” Felix pressed his back to mine. I could feel him take a fighting stance.

“Nothing to me, but it does to my boss.” Her voice swirled around us, which made me wonder if anyone was even here at all.

“Why don’t you come fur-ward and make our acquaintance.”

Felix elbowed the back of my ribs, but cat puns are always worth making.

“No thanks, maybe next time.” The voice faded, and then I noticed a figure five roofs ahead of us.

“After her!” I bounded after her.. “We need Ladybug.”

 

**Felix**

I tried my best to keep up, but Adrien as Chat Noir was unhumanly fast. I watched him fade into the night before I stopped.

“We need Ladybug.” I heard Adrien shout. Too bad I wasn’t her. I collapsed on a roof with a large balcony.

I heard a very shrieky French voice shout below me. The only word I caught was Sabrina. I peered down to see a snooty Blonde teen lean against the railing. I heard her voice scream “Adrien” and the French word fère, which meant brother. Why would this girl know about me? I listened to her unbearable voice shriek and laugh till I couldn’t stomach it anymore. She was pretty hot, but her personality made her a two.

“She got away.”

I jumped, “Dude!”

“Sorry.” Adrien glanced down at the blonde girl and grimaced. “That’s Chloe, but I’m sure she’s going to be calling me tomorrow wanting to meet you.”

It was my turn to grimace, “Please no.”

“She’s the least of our worries.”

“I’m sure whoever that was will be back.”

“I’m counting on it.”


	6. Felix's Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix discover's Marinette's secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might have been a little fast that Felix figured out who Marinette is, but he also hasn't been around her a lot giving him a clearer picture of what's actually going on. I hope you enjoy the story!

**Felix**

I texted Alya the next morning to let her know I’d join her and Marinette at the mall that evening. I received an instant reply and chatted with her till my French lessons started. To my confusion, the person who taught my French also taught Adrien Mandarin. It appeared that Gabriel wanted me to learn both, but to my dismay, I failed to understand either.

After that mess, I was forced to split with Adrien to attend Karate lessons. The karate was even worse than the Mandarin because I was put into a class with seventh graders. “Fuck this,” I muttered under my breath as I thirteen year old pinned me to the ground in excitement.

“You suck.” He laughed before he ran to his friends.

“Trust me, I already know.”

 

Finally, I got to head back to Agreste manor to have a late lunch with Adrien.

“How was your day?” Adrien asked.

“You don’t even want to know,” I replied annoyed.

“That bad?”

I dipped my spoon into my soup and flicked it at him.

“Well don’t take it out on me.” He padded a white napkin on the table.

“Sorry, I have four years of teen angst you missed out on, so I have to fit it in where I can.”

Adrien chuckled, “At least I’m not behind on it.” He returned fire with a flick of his soup that splashed my right cheek.

“Good aim.” I wiped the soup on my sleeve.

“Felix, we do not wipe food on our sleeves. Imagine if your father saw that.” Natalie clicked her heels.

“My bad.” I smiled.

“Go change immediately.” She demanded.

“Of course.” I stood from the table. “Adrien, please excuse my poor table manners.” I bowed before I left. I ran up the front steps, turned right, and then found my bedroom door the third one on the left. I sauntered to the closet filled with Agreste clothing that any diehard fashionista would kill to have. I threw on a simple black tee that matched my jeans. I ran back downstairs, but Adrien was already gone. “When will Adrien be back?” I asked Natalie.

“Not till dinner or later,” Natalie said in a clipped tone before turning to leave. 

I sighed. The mall event wasn’t until 5, so I had three long hours till then. I turned to face Natalie who had sat back down at her desk from the dining room doorway. I waited till she had to answer a call and I just slipped out the front door. I ran down the front steps, and through the open gate that a delivery man just left through. Freedom, I screamed in my mind as I made it before the big iron gate closed. “Thank you Jesus! Now all I have to do is figure out where to explore first.” I mumbled to myself aloud. It really was a lucky break that the gate was still open.

If Nino’s apartment was to the left, I wonder where I would end up if I went to the right? I walked right and texted Alya about my jailbreak. Her reply was “W _ait somewhere and let me come get you._ ”  

I sighed but agreed to it. Why didn’t anyone trust me around Paris by myself? I walked in and out of shops till I ended up in a goth magic shop.

“Can I help you?” A pretty girl with purple hair and big gold eyes asked from behind an antique cash register.

“Just looking,” I replied. There was a ton of magic stuff: special candles for spells, potions, special crystals, and herbs. I picked up a bag of cinnamon, “How is this a magical herb?” I asked purple haired girl.

“It’s supposed to be used in wealth spells.”

I set the bag down, and traipsed down the room to look at more potions. “This really works?” I raised an eyebrow holding a bottle of love potion.

“Not with a doubting attitude.”

“So how does it work?” I walked over to the cash register. I leaned on the black ouija covered counter interested to know more about my mystery girl.

“You could read the directions.”

Her sarcasm charmed me, “True, but I figured you would know more about it seeing as I am completely under your spell.” I finished with a wink.

She gave me a half smirk, “You’re only the fifth tourist to use that line on me today.”

“Only the fifth? It must be a slow day for you.”

She giggled in response, “Yeah, you’re the best one today though.”

“Only today?” I leaned closer, “I guess I’ll have to step up my game.”

“Felix, there you are!” Alya dragged Marinette through the door.

“Your name is Felix?” Purple haired girl asked with a smile that played on her lips.

“The one and only.” I winked.

“Hey Juleka, what’s going on girl? Alya asked before she grabbed my arm hard.

“Nothing much just working and talking to this dork.”

My confidence fell at the word dork, but she did laugh after she said it. There weren't too many girls who put dork before hottie when talking about me. 

“Well, we’ll be borrowing this dork to go to the big Ladybug and Chat Noir expo at the mall.” Alya tugged on my arm.

“What, I thought it was a fashion expo?” I tripped as Alya dragged me.

“Then only Marinette and you would be attending.” Alya loosened her grip. “Did you want to explain why you ran away again?”

“I didn’t run away, I simply saw that the gate was open and left.” I shrugged.

“That sounds like running away to me.” Marinette mused. “Will Adrien be joining?” Her face reddened.

“Oh no, he’s spending time with Nino today.” I watched her face fall, and felt bad. “Maybe I can convince him to come.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. It’ll be nice to spend time with you and Alya.” Marinette’s words tumbled out of her mouth as fast as I got rejected from Melissa last spring when I asked her to prom. To be fair I did insinuate that she was only my third choice.

I broke my flashback as Alya started to yank me forward again as if I were a lost dog. I let her keep the grasp on my arm, but our behavior earned stares from strangers. “Hey Marinette, could you text Adrien for me?” I asked her.

“Oh! I-I…” Her red-faced stutter endeared me.

“You don’t have to, I’m skilled enough to text one-handed.” I texted Adrien about the horrid expo that he claimed he “wouldn’t be caught dead at” from our conversation last night. _You should come as Chat Noir since the expo is in your honor._

“Marinette, you hold onto Felix.” Alya passed my arm into Marinette’s slender hand. “I need to post this to the lady blog.”

“I am older than you both.”

“Yeah, and your French sucks.” Alya shot back.

“I think Alya just wants to keep you safe.” Marinette dropped her hold from my arm. “Just stick by me, and we’ll be okay.” Her blue eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun.

“Yeah, I’ll stick with you,” I said dumbly. Marinette was really pretty, but she was also 14...I thought so at least. “Hey, how old are you?”

Marinette scrunched her tiny nose, “I’m fifteen. I will be sixteen soon.”

My arousal died, “Oh so you’re older than Adrien?” I normally went for older girls. Preferably ones in college who could take me to actual parties. 

She turned red at the mere mention of his name, “I guess so.”

“So do you like Adrien?” I asked in an indifferent manner.

She dropped my hand and jumped, “Wh-what would give you that idea? I mean I like Adrien- well he’s my friend. I should like him because he is my friend and is so amazing- I mean he’s so awesome- I mean handsome- I mean ugh.” She slapped her head into her palm. “Please don’t tell him. It’ll be humiliating.” She looked as if she were about to cry. Her face started to turn a weird red and her blue eyes went shimmery.

“Oh don’t cry, please! I won’t tell him ever, I swear on my life. Please don’t cry.” I grabbed her shoulders. “I really hate it when girls cry, especially my first girlfriend. Her face would turn all red and gross looking and I’d feel terrible. Not that you’re an ugly crier! Or that you would be one.” I rushed to say anything that would prevent her from crying. “I could tell you about the time I went rock climbing wall and fell  face first on the gym floor in front of everyone, or the girl I kind of liked back home to make us even.”

Marinette smiled, “You don’t have to. I won’t cry.” She giggled behind her hand, “You’re as awkward as I am.”

“I guess I am.” I scratched the back of my head. I hadn’t thought of myself as awkward, but if Marinette thought I was I clearly needed to reevaluate myself.

“Okay I got our tickets, so we are free to enjoy our Ladybug filled day.” Alya squeezed us together in a giant hug.

“Hurray,” I said weakly.

We spent the next hour in the massive mall packed with fans as they displayed their devotion over Ladybug and Chat Noir. I chuckled to myself as I realized why Adrien probably wanted to miss this. There were people dressed as Chat Noir everywhere, but I spied a very curvy woman in a Chat costume that made my mouth water. She had long red hair that ran down her back and a nice ass.

“Come on you.” Alya yanked me away towards the booth that Ladybug was supposed to appear to sign autographs in.

“Are you sure you need me for this?” I thought back to that curvy Chat Noir with red hair.

“Oh please. You’d get into trouble if we let you out of our sights, plus you can barely speak French. That women probably doesn't even know English.”

“Isn’t English the most spoken language in the world now?”

“I doubt you have language on the brain anyway.” Alya elbowed me in the ribs.

“Guilty.” I sighed. If I were Adrien, I would have fraternized with all my fans by now. I would make one shitty superhero. Then again Batman is a man whore, and it works for him.

“Where is Ladybug?” Alya tapped her foot. She looked around, “Hey were did Marinette go?”

I shrugged, “I should probably go look for her. She might be in the Chat Noir exhibit.”

“Almost, but not quite. Calm yourself.” Alya yanked my arm back.

“Ow! Okay, ghees I get it. I won’t run off.” I rubbed my arm. “Do you always abuse your friends?”

“Only you and Nino,” Alya smirked over her cellphone ready to start filming the second Ladybug appeared.

“Figures,” I grunted. I scanned the sea of people for our pigtailed Marinette until I spied a spotted red uniform glide onto center stage. “Marinette?” I squinted gawking at the red spotted figure.

“I thank all of you for showing your support for Chat Noir and myself. I hope you enjoy the festivities.” Ladybug waved and smiled.

Wait, wait, wait. That girl looked just like Marinette, and Marinette was missing. If Adrien hadn’t told his friends he was Chat Noir, maybe Marinette hadn’t told Alya she was Ladybug. I stared stupidly at the stage and then at oblivious Alya. Alya jumped up and down with her phone in hand. I seriously couldn’t have been the only one who saw this!

Just after Ladybug disappeared, Marinette came back. “Oh darn, I missed her again. I had to run to the bathroom.”

“You have the worst luck girl.” Alya laughed.

I stared at them both with shock. “Are you serious?” I muttered.

“Huh?” Both answered.

“Never mind.” I shrugged it off. “Marinette, why don’t we go to the Chat Noir exhibit while Alya interviews people Ladybug saved.”

“Oh! Please, Marinette!” Alya grabbed her arm and jumped up and down. “It would be perfect from my blog.”

“Sure no problem.” Marinette smiled back.

“Thanks girl!” Alya ran away into the sea.

“So Marinette, or should I say Ladybug.” I eyed her reaction, “Wanna go check out Chat Noir stuff.”

“What? I’m not her.” She exclaimed horrified. “Plus she is way older than I am and taller. There is no way we could ever be the same person. Why would you think a silly thing like that?” Her red cheeks brought out those bright blue eyes of hers. 

“You don’t even change your hairstyle. How could I not notice?” I hissed.

Marinette’s face twisted into anger,“You can’t tell anyone ever.” She punched my arm.

“Yeah, therein lies the problem,” I muttered. Adrien loved Ladybug, Marinette loved Adrien. Both bound me to secrecy, and neither wanted to compromise. I was caught in the middle of a love triangle I realized stupidly. Maybe even a love square.

“You have to swear!” She grabbed my arm. She glared at me, “Or I will find you and throw you off the Eiffel Tower!”

“I won’t ghees relax.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m serious! You’re the first person to know, and I can’t have you endangering me or my family.”

“Look, this is my second day in Paris. The only person I really even know is Adrien who has the biggest crush on Ladybug, so it’s not like there is anyone for me to tell.”

“You could go online.” Marinette’s face had turned red with the mention of Adrien.

“Gabriel suspended my social media accounts till next week when he had a press conference about my existence.”

“Really?” Marinette made a face.

“Yeah right? I thought it was over kill, but apparently, he thinks his way is best.” I pulled us into the mall corridor. “I really couldn’t care that you’re her. I just think you should tell Chat Noir who you are.” I whispered.

“No way! It’s too dangerous, plus he’s probably a creep in real life, and he makes a bunch of horrible cat jokes. You wouldn’t understand.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong about him being a creep or the cat jokes, “I guess you’re right. But, you still should take a risk. Who knows, he could be your true love.”

“Oh gross! I’d have to deal with puns every day.” She shivered in disgust.

Jokes on you if you date Adrien, I thought to myself.“Oh, wanna take a selfie with her!” I dragged Marinette towards the hot Chat Noir chick from earlier. Her tight suit was already causing me to drool.

“Really?” She glared.

“It’ll be fun.” I winked at her.

**Adrien**

“Dude, maybe we should have gone to the expo.”

“Oh, why?” I asked ready to destroy him in the game we had worked on since noon.

“Alya said it was awesome, and look at all the pictures they got.” Nino postponed his demise and shoved his phone in my face.

I skimmed through all the pictures, but paused at two: Ladybug, and Felix around Marinette. “I guess we should have,” I muttered darkly. I handed Nino his phone back ready to destroy him. It appeared I had a couple of questions for my brother related to his sudden affection for Marinette.

 


	7. Felix and Adrien's Photo Shoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix and Adrien have their first shoot together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's jealously might get the best of him.
> 
> p.s. Merde is the French word for Sh*t

**Felix**

 

The next day was a repeat of the previous: language lessons I failed to comprehend, karate with 7th graders that continuously felt the need to hit me, and finally lunch with Adrien. “Hey.”

“Hey can I ask you about something?” Adrien looked miffed.

“Sure?”

“How was yesterday?”

Oh shit. “Fantastic, Ladybug was super great, and I found this super hot chick who dressed like Chat Noir and she added me on snapchat!” I rushed to change the conversation away from yesterday when I learned Marinette was Ladybug. I already broke my promise to Adrien and we'd known each other for a total of two days. I internally kicked myself at the position I just put myself in. 

“But, no phone number?”

“Shut up.” I muttered.  

“It looks like you hit it off with the girls.”

Something in Adrien’s tone made me pause, “Yeah I guess so. Marinette missed you though.”

Adrien perked up with blush on his cheeks, “Oh did she? I guess Nino and I should have joined you guys.”

“Uh huh.” I mused over my giant roast chicken breast.

“I had fun yesterday too.” He spat out.

“I never said you didn’t?” I raised an eyebrow.

Adrien stuffed his mouth with food with red on his face. He was silent the rest of the meal which was unlike him.

“Maybe we could all hang out on our day off.” I offered.

“That could be fun.”

“Adrien, Felix I have some great news.” Gabriel strolled into the room. “Felix, you will be joining Adrien on the cover of Vogue for the July issue, but we need the shoot done today.”

I dropped my fork. “Uh…” I never modeled in my life. My mom was a great model, but I never even joined her on set. “Did my mom agree to this?”  

“Father, shouldn’t we have Felix take a lesson first?”

“Normally we would, but Felix doesn’t have time. You’ll have to tell him on the way, or have him watch Top Model so he knows what not to do.” Gabriel paced. “Felix, I need you to borrow Adrien’s skin products, and do the whole routine now.”

“But…” My food, I thought sadly.

“We’ll put that in a blender for you to drink.” Gabriel typed something on his phone fast.

“My chicken?” I made a face.

“If needed yes. Now hurry.” He pulled me out of my chair. “Hurry.”

Gabriel seemed frazzled, but I was just sad. I texted Adrien _Please do not let him feed me pureed chicken._ I ran to Adrien’s room and looked at all the bottles on the counter. “Fuck…” All the directions were in French, but at least they were numbered...at least some were. “I can do this.”

“Oh this stuff he scrubs his face with first, and then I think it’s the blue bottle?” Plagg knocked the bottle off the counter.

“Thanks Plagg.” I scrubbed my face and tried to follow Plagg’s directions. “I feel stupid,” I said when I was done.

“Naw, you look great. Hey, put me in Adrien’s bag so I can come along, but put cheese in it.”

“You’ll smell up the whole set then.” I grabbed a bright orange bag from Adrien’s desk and shoved Plagg inside.

“At least put cheddar.”

“Fine.” I threw a cube of cheddar in the bag, and a black shirt so Plagg wouldn’t stand out against the see-through material. I ran downstairs to a very annoyed Gabriel.

“Five minutes, that is far too long in the fashion world young man. You need to cut that routine down to two.” Gabriel shoved me out the door with a green shake in hand. “Drink this and go!”

“Okay!” I stumbled to the car with my shake in hand. I slid into the car seat next to Adrien when the car immediately jerked forward. My stomach growled unhappily, and I had the saddest realization that this was a kale shake. “This is kale?”

Adrien eyed the shake, “Probably or spinach.”

“I just want a sandwich.” I slugged down the shake when we slowed. The taste left me sad.

“Almost there.” The driver called over his shoulder.

I jumped at the sound of his voice. “I thought he was mute.” I whispered stunned.

Adrien chucked at my face, “You have green on your face.”

I finished the drink and dug into the car’s pouch for tissues.

“Oh we’re here!” Adrien yanked me out of the car with green stuff still plastered to my face.

“Adrien, so wonderful to see you again!” A fancy man greeted him. “Ah Felix Finch son of one of my previous models…” His face showed disgust. “You have green on your face.”  

“I know it’s the shake.”

“Oh well, that simply will not do.” He shoved me into a woman's arms. “Clean him and bring him back.”

I hated this. I followed the women to a vanity. “Sit.” She pushed me into a comfy black chair.

The next hour was turbulent of makeup, forced out of my clothes, rubbed with bronzer, and forced to stand naked in a dressing room for twenty minutes while the bronzer dried.

“The first thing Gabriel needs to do with you is get you a spray tan, and cut down on your food.” The guy who greeted us said in a haughty tone. His English was okay, but still had a French ring to it.

“I’ll pass the word on to him.” I said through clenched teeth.

“He needs to get you on whatever he has Adrien doing.”

I glared at the white curtain and wished I had laser vision. After my time in solitude was up, I had to go back to makeup, assistants squabbled over what I should wear to contrast Adrien, and how to make me look like the devilish bad boy of the Agreste family. Was that me though? The rebel, the black sheep, the one father couldn’t control, so was that how Gabriel described me to others? Is that how I wanted the world to see me? 

I stepped forward under bright lights to a simple black chair.

“Sit!” The guy placed me in the chair. “Now, you and Adrien are going to learn against the backs of each other and I want you to make strong poses. Adrien will be sweet, you will be strong.”

So, in other words, I was the bad one. I stared at the camera set up ready to shoot us with apprehension. I had model genes, but could I pull this off?

“You’ll do great.” Adrien sat down.

“Come on mes garçons, lean.”

I pressed my back against the chair to place it on its back legs, and I felt it bump Adrien’s. I sucked in my abs to keep myself straight. I had only one foot on the floor to balance.

“Perfecto!” The camera started to flash before I was ready.

I ran my fingers through my hair and leaned further back to expose my lower abs. Gabriel would be so pissed. I'd pose naked if I could. I could only imagine his reaction to his beloved brand if I did that. 

“You are a natural!”

The bombardment of flashes kept me blind, but I hoped Adrien had followed my lead. I tried a few different poses before I ran out of ideas on what to do. I almost wished I had watched America’s Top Model in the car.

“Break! Boys you did superb!” The cameraman gave us two thumbs up.

I fell forward with Adrien’s shove. “See not bad at all.” He smiled reassuringly. 

“Can we see?” I asked meekly. So maybe I wasn't exactly ready to pose naked for the world to see. I felt oddly self-conscious wondering what the pictures would look like. 

The cameraman showed me his top three shots of which was the one both Adrien and I had exposed ourselves the coveted V zone of our lower abs. “Dad is going to flip when he sees this.” I punched Adrien’s arm.

“It’s just perfect! I will definitely be keeping this one for the spread.” The cameraman smiled. “Now we are going to move you outside to the yard.” He announced with a clap.

“Doesn’t that seem a little high school graduation?” I asked Adrien. I thought back to every basic white girl graduation pictures of them in a field of grass with a chair as they tried to appear like serious models. 

Adrien shrugged, “If they aren’t good, we’ll have to keep going.”

I closed my eyes in sadness, “But, I need to eat real food.”

“You can steal a sandwich off the food cart when we finish.” He patted my shoulder.

 

The shoot took forever, and I shoved finger food in my mouth like a starving dog. “So good.” I mumbled between bites.

“Whoa slow down Felix, we still have dinner.” Adrien dragged me away from the table.

“Please no more kale shakes.”

“I think it’s fish tonight.” Adrien led the way to the car.

“Are we going to go out tonight?” I whispered.

“Yeah, we have to find that one woman. I want to know what she’s planning, and who her boss is.” Adrien clenched his fist.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe I should try reaching out to Ladybug.”

“No! Let’s just hold off on that.” I said awkwardly. If Marinette saw me with Chat Noir, she would learn Adrien’s secret and probably freak out. I pictured how the scene would go: she’d see us, realize who I was, realize Chat Noir was Adrien, blush so hard that she’d fall off a building, and then spend the next month in the hospital with Adrien and I visiting every day. 

Gabriel shocked me when he joined us for dinner once we settled down to our plate of salmon and asparagus.

“The shoot went very well, and I already have the pictures that will be used in Vogue spread.” He held a copy of the photos in his hand. “Photographer John Glich was very impressed with you Felix.” Gabriel’s gaze bore into me. “Especially with your explicit defiance with my orders.”

I chewed slowly, “Orders?” 

Gabriel closed his eyes annoyed, “Yes orders, I did not want Adrien in any...explicit poses or shoots till he was at least 17.” He muttered something under his breath as I shoved more food in my mouth.

I swallowed loudly, “Okay, so just use the one with me exposing myself like slut.” Shit that came out wrong, I thought.

“We do not use that language in this house!” Gabriel yelled.

“Sorry, it came out wrong.” My fork stabbed the pink flesh, "I meant to say indecently exposed." 

“We can’t use the one with just you, it’s not symmetrical.”

“So I looked better than Adrien.” I already knew what he meant.

“That’s not what I said young man. The picture with both of you doing the same pose was preferred by Vogue and myself.” Gabriel finally ate something off his plate.

I never responded, but Gabriel turned his interrogation to Adrien. I was happy that the conversation shift away from me. I pushed my fish around and wished I had a burger or taco instead. Pan pizza. Pan meat lovers Pizza dripping in cheese and grease. My stomach growled loudly as I shoveled salmon in my mouth instead of the slice of pizza I imagined it was. 

After dinner with Gabriel, Adrien and I headed upstairs to his room. “I need to have Marinette make me a costume.” I pulled out the Chat Noir hoodie and blue mask from under Adrien’s bed.

“Why do you keep this in my room again?” Adrien was already dressed as Chat Noir.

“Because Natalie searches my room.” I said as I ran into the bathroom. I threw on the outfit and followed Adrien to the window. I held onto him as he plunged us out the window onto the roof next door. “Doesn’t your neighbor ever get suspicious?”

Adrien shrugged, “I never even see our neighbors.”

Right because Adrien barely ever saw anyone outside this mansion.

 

**Adrien**

 

I enjoyed the shoot with Felix today, but I had to goals to accomplish tonight: finding the mystery women who may be connected to Hawk Moth, and seeing Marinette. It was stupid of me to still be jealous, but I couldn’t help it! I could still see the photo of Felix’s arm around Marinette from yesterday, and it drove me crazy all day long.

“Hey Felix, I think we should split up for tonight.”

“What?” Felix almost face planted a jump when he heard me.

“Yeah, I think that by splitting up we can cover more ground.”

Felix stared at me, “I guess. I’ll call you if anything happens.” Felix jumped and ran west when I had a horrible realization.

“Merde.” I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t get to my cellphone when I was wearing the suit. "He'll be fine." I waved away my concern as Marinette's bakery came into view. 

 


	8. Chat Noir's Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir drops in on Marinette, and Felix faces off with their mystery woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Chat Noir scene if finally here!

**Adrien**

 

I prowled over roofs till I reached Marinette’s balcony. I watched her sketch something in her pink notebook. Her nose crinkled in concentration that pulled at my heart. I had always liked Marinette, but I loved Ladybug. Ladybug was my partner, and Marinette the cute, clumsy friend.

I crept closer to see more of the picture. A horrible realization hit when I saw what she was drawing- Felix.

“Well hey princess.” I jumped down from the roof.

“Ah!” Marinette jumped up in surprise. “Chat Noir, what are you doing here?” She hid the sketch pad behind her back. Her large pink t-shirt hung loosely around her body covering her slender form. 

“Just checking in on my favorite civilian.” I plucked a flower from the vine that grew around her home. “For you mon chère.” I bowed.

Marinette giggled, “Thank you monsieur.”

“You know I couldn’t help but admire your sketch from above princess.”

Marinette’s face turned a bright red, “Oh Chat you give me too much credit.”

“Not at all princess.” I glanced at the sketch again to see Felix’s smile as it bore a hole into my heart. “So, is that handsome man your prince?” I asked with evident venom.

“He’s just my new friend. I don’t have a prince kitty.” Her laugh sounded off...like she was hiding something.

“You could if you wanted.” I stared at her longingly. What I wouldn't give to know the secrets Marinette Dupain-Cheng was hiding from me. 

Her blue eyes sparkled against the moonlight. “You’re being awfully silly tonight Chat. What would Ladybug think if she heard you?”

Was Marinette flirting with me? “Ladybug and I aren’t together.” The words burned more than I thought they would.

“Oh aren’t you? I could have sworn the gossip columns all said you were.”

“Misinformed princess.” I leaned against her balcony. “So does your guy friend have a name?”

Marinette laughed for real this time, “Are you jealous kitty?”

“No, just concerned about my princess’s safety. I might need to do an investigation on him.” I flexed my right arm.

Marinette smiled, “I’m sure you don’t.” She eyed me in a manner I never saw her do when I was just Adrien.

“You can never be too sure.” I crept closer to her. I should have brought more flowers, I thought. I would have put a flower behind her ear-

“Well kitty, his name is Felix. He’s the brother of Adrien Agreste.” She got a faraway look on her face.

“Well, I’m sure neither are as handsome as me.” I blurted out before I could fully comprehend what she said. That look on her face just made me so jealous. I realized I was literally jealous of myself.

“You are a silly kitty tonight.” She flipped the bell on my collar.

“You know I model when I’m not Chat Noir, hero of Paris.” Merde, I mentally cursed myself. I might as well detransform in front of her. Stupid, stupid Adrien.

“Oh are you?” She asked in a teasing tone.

“Yes, but most of the time I just mope around waiting to see my lady.” I slid my hand closer to her shoulder as I leaned against the balcony like I saw my father do so many times before when mother was still alive.  

“Maybe you should tell Ladybug that.” Marinette pulled my collar so I was at her face level.

“Who said I was talking about her?” Her eyes were so beautiful. They glowed with mischief, and I felt her breath on my lips.

Marinette let go of me. “Well kitty, it’s getting late and I need my beauty sleep.” She grabbed her sketchbook from the little plastic table and headed back inside.

“Night princess.” I called as she shut her patio door. I could practically feel myself float as I thought back to Marinette’s face near mine. Her pink lips almost touched mine. I felt like she had wanted me to kiss her. But, why was she drawing Felix? I clenched my fist in jealousy then realized I should probably find him. Find him and dicuss boundries with my friends. 

 

**Felix**

 

I wandered around the roofs of Paris with no trouble. People just assumed I was Chat Noir because of the ears from the hoodie. I saw a couple who tried to take pictures of me as I jumped over roofs near the Eiffel tower with no equipment to break my fall whatsoever. Honestly, it was a miracle I didn't plunge off a roof to my death. Besides this fact that proved how amazing I am, I looked all over for the mystery woman in vain. I managed to stop a purse snatching on my own though.

“You don’t look like Chat Noir.” The blonde woman said as I handed her purse back.

“Had to get the suit cleaned.” I climbed back up to the roofs. I spent a full hour on my own, but wondered where was Adrien? I decided to head back towards the manor without him. At least I had thought it was that way...

“Well hello kitten.”

Well shit. “Who are you?” I called bravely.

“No Chat Noir tonight?” A figure stooped in the shadows.

I watched as she moved around and spread into my fighter stance. She was incredibly quick.

“You don’t have a miraculous.” Her voice sounded harsh. She stepped out of the shadows. “You’re going to be easy to destroy.”

“That’s what you think you…” The words fizzled in my mouth as I got a good look at her. A hot red-haired vixen stepped out of the shadows. She was dressed in a blue suit with feathers. She had a blue mask with bright green eyes.

She flashed me a mean smile, “Scared Kitty?” She flipped open a fan.

“Actually do you wanna get a drink, see a movie, or make out sometime?”

“What?” She glared at me dumbfounded by the words that just spewed out of my mouth.

“Well, I mean why destroy me when we can just do stuff? I’m sure I am way more fun alive.”

“I’ll have to pass.” She sneered at me.

“That’s too bad. I’m a fantastic kisser, an even better lover.” I lunged at her.

“Too bad you’re not a good fighter.” She caught my arm and bent it backward.

“You really shouldn’t underestimate me.” I flipped her over my back and pinned her to the roof. “So about that kiss.”

She kicked my gut hard and flipped backward. “I’ll pass cat boy.”

“I was going to take it easy on you.” I wheezed. That really hurt. I spied her lunge again from the right, but I swung my left leg low to knock her off the roof. What surprised me is that she actually fell for it.

“Ah!” She screamed as she fell off the roof.

“Call me when you get out of the hospital!” I shouted over the roof. That was close. Too close.

“Felix!” I turned to see Adrien run towards me.

“Dude, I totally kicked mystery woman’s butt. We had a moment or two.” I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure she’s in love with me now.”

Adrien laughed, “Sure. Seriously what happened?”

“I just told you, I kicked her butt. It was just some hot crazy chick in a blue suit with a fan.”

Adrien paused before looking over the roof like he didn't believe a word I was saying. “She’s gone.”


	9. Felix's Suit: Work in progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari and Felix hangout to Adrien's despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supersuit is in progress! What do you guys think Felix should be?

**Felix**

 

“She was wearing a blue suit, she had some feathers, and a fan.” I tried to remember every detail. “I flirted with her, we had some banter, and I kicked her off a roof.”

Adrien paced, “This just doesn’t make any sense!”

I shrugged, “She might have been looking for you or Ladybug.” I relived that brief time I spent with the villainess, “Um she did mention something else. She said I didn’t have a miraculous? Whatever that means.”

Adrien stopped, “She said that?”

“Yeah, no idea what she was talking about though.” I lazily put a camembert and Ritz crackers in my mouth.“This stuff isn’t half bad with crackers.”

“I told you.” Plagg stuffed more camembert in his mouth greedily. 

“A miraculous is an object that you use to transform with your kwami like my ring or Ladybug’s earnings.”

“I didn’t notice anything like that on her. All she had was a tight blue outfit, a fan, some feathers, and a really nice rack.” I sighed, and I draped myself over Adrien’s sofa. “Do you think I’ll get slutty fangirls soon?” I needed a girl to focus on who wouldn't get sent to jail and wasn't lovestruck Marinette.

“The July issue doesn’t even release till June.” Adrien waved me off.

“Ugh.” I grunted bored. I had another week before the world even knew about me. I toyed with the idea of reaching out to Emily back home, but I already knew she would be onto the next guy. I also thought about the only real friend I had Tyler. I wondered if he even missed me?

“Dude.” Adrien threw a pillow at my face.

“What?”

“I said I need to get ahold of Ladybug and tell her about this. The girl who attacked you might have the Peacock miraculous.”

“And what does that do?”

“I can’t remember, and I already lost father’s book on the miraculous.” Adrien paced again. “I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed it’s missing.”

“Maybe it’s time to take you to the master.” Plagg gargled through his full mouth.

“Who’s that?” Adrien asked.

“Uh, just the guy who gave you your miraculous in the first place.”

I tuned both of them out. I wondered what Marinette was doing. Fuck it. I reached for my phone to text her hey. Just then I felt something hit the back of my head. “Ow!” A Ladybug action figure sat in the hood of my hoodie.

“What’s that for?”

“Stop texting, and start focusing!” Adrien snapped at me for the first time.

“Okay, ghees.” I slipped the phone back into my hoodie pocket. “You could have just said so.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I waited for Adrien to finish talking.

“I’m going to go see this Master, and you just stay here?”

“Or I’m going out to investigate.” I stood up. Marinette was free to hang out especially when I asked if she would help design something for me. Apparently, her kwami wanted to talk to me in private too.

“Investigation with who?” Adrien glowered at me.

“What is your problem today?”

“Nothing. I don’t have a problem.” Adrien strode to the door. “I’ll see you later, text me if anything happens.”

I walked to Marinette’s house since Adrien was the one who needed the car. Dear Gabriel could never risk his pride and joy to the harsh conditions of Paris. What would happen to the Agreste name if Adrien ever got a ‘gasp’ sunburn? I chuckled at my thought and half wished to take Adrien to the beach on our free day.

The walk to her place was scenic: lots of pigeons, interesting people about, and the buildings were an array of differences. I also found a guy on a bike with an umbrella and smoking a cigarette while he texted. Talk about talent.

I arrived at Marinette’s house, which I realized was a small bakery after I noticed Marinette on her balcony. I opened the front door to a couple staring me down.

“Hello, there young man. You must be Felix Agreste.” The man was huge! He was the same height as me, but wider built. He had moppy brown hair and warm brown eyes.

“Felix Finch actually. I have my mom’s last name.”

“It’s a lovely name.” A woman who looked like the older version of Marinette stood before me with a warm smile. “Are you Marinette’s boyfriend now? She has spoken a lot about you since the Ladybug expo.”

“MAMAN!” Marinette scrambled into the kitchen. She grabbed my arm with such force I feared it would be dislocated.

“It was nice meeting you!” I called over my good shoulder.

“You will pretend that didn’t happen.” She hissed under her breath at me.

“Totally forgotten, besides I’m already seeing someone as of last night.” I said in a dreamy tone.

“Oh?” Marinette’s tone was low.

“She’s probably working for Hawk Moth, but our love is strong enough to overcome her evil tendencies. They simply need to be shifted to something more beneficial.” Marinette led me up a set of narrow stairs. “Like the bedroom.”

Mari punched my arm. “How did you meet a girl that works for Hawk Moth!” She punched my arm again. “That’s an akuma! You don’t mess with her if she’s akumatized.”

“She wasn’t!” I rubbed my arm. “She’s the evil peacock miraculous holder at least that’s what Ad- Chat Noir thinks.” I snapped my mouth shut. I almost blew it. Marinette couldn't handle Adrien being Chat Noir yet. My mind drifts back to the scenario: blushes so hard she falls off a roof. Adrien and I visit her in the hospital every day for an entire summer. 

“You know who Chat Noir is?” Marinette rolled her eyes. “Is that why you were telling me to expose my secret identity to him?”

“No.” I crossed my arms.

“Right whatever you say.” Marinette walked over to the desk where she had her sketch pad. “What did you need me to sketch?” She plopped into her pink rolly chair and spun to face me.

“I need you to make me a suit.” I said slowly.

“I haven’t tried my hand at guy’s formal wear before.” Marinette tapped the pencil against her chin.  

“No, a super suit as in honey where is my super suit kind of suit that you probably don’t want me to have, but I’m gonna have it either way.”

Marinette glared at me, “Why do you need this suit.”

“I could lie and say for cosplay, but Marinette I’m actually working with Chat Noir as a-” The words pained me to say- “An understudy.”

“You’re his sidekick!” Marinette dropped her sketch pad. She wore a look of rage that would make the manliest of men shrink in fear.

“Only sometimes,” I muttered twiddling my thumbs together. I hated the idea of being Adrien’s sidekick. I was older. “Besides I was the one that took down crazy hot chick last night, not him.”

“You took on a miraculous user by yourself!” Marinette spat through clenched teeth.

I stepped back, “Yeah, but I won.” I started to feel scared of Marinette.

“Winning one time doesn’t mean you can be a superhero!”

“Marinette, maybe we should give Felix a chance.” A red bug appeared. “Hello Felix, my name is Tikki. I’m Marinette’s kwami.” Tikki flew around my head. “Marinette, do you mind giving me a minute alone with Felix?”

“Sure Tikki, I’ll go grab some cookies from downstairs.” Marinette left through her trap door. She slammed it shut to show me she was still furious.

“Felix, I know Adrien is Chat Noir.” Tikki flew right at my face. “You need to keep it a secret from both of them! You can never tell either one the secret identity.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on it now. They’re both so-so…”

“Blind? I know it’s frustrating, but you have to let nature take its course.” Tikki shrugged.

“So you really think I can be a Superhero?” I raised my brow.

“Of course! You’re in great shape, and I can already tell you’re brave.”

“Brave?” I had been called a lot of things in my life, but brave was a first.

“What else do you call someone who moves to another country to meet a dad he never met? You moved to France, and you don’t even speak French.”

“That just sounds foolish now that you say it.

“Foolishly brave.” Tikki giggled.

“You’re way better than Plagg.” I poked her belly. “All he does is eat.”

“You should give Plagg a chance, I think you both will get along great.”

I smiled evilly wishing that Plagg was my kwami, "I think we'd end up doing more bad than good." 

 

**Adrien**

 

“Plagg, do you even know where you’re going?” I whispered into the pocket of my jacket.

“Ah duh I do. I’m the kwami of destruction.” Plagg rolled his eyes at me.

Plagg’s directions lead me to an old chiropractor building. The name on the door read Fu.

I opened the door, “hello?” I called in a brown waiting room covered with ferns.

“Please come in.” An elderly voice called from behind a cracked door.

I opened the door to see a small table, a paper screen in the corner, an old-fashioned record player, and the man sitting at one end of the table. “Hello, sir.”

“I wondered when you would visit me.” The man sipped from a cup of tea. “Have a seat, there is much to discuss.”

 

**Felix**

 

“I’m finally going to have my own costume!” I hauled all the materials Marinette bought over my left shoulder.

“Yeah, but don’t get too excited.” She bumped her hip into mine.

“Oh?”

“You still have to beat Ladybug in a fight before you can continue your Chat Noir escapades.”

I carried the materials to the cash register. “Well, that shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll just bring a picture from the new shoot of Adrien exposing himself on camera.”

Marinette almost tripped over her own feet when someone called her name.

“Hey Marinette.” A mopy red-haired guy appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey Nathanael!” Marinette greeted him cheerily.

“How is your break going?” He eyed me in a weird way. A weird possessive guy checking out another guy who was with the girl he liked kind of way.

“Oh great, just getting more designing done. How has your artwork been?”

The guy answered in French, but his face turned red.

I felt eyes bore into me, “Bonjour.” I said awkwardly.

“Nath, this is Felix. He’s visiting from America.”

“Nice to meet you Felix.” His tone reminded me of Adrien’s from earlier.

I handed the cashier my card, “So you’re an artist?”

“Oh yeah, I hope to work for one of the major comics some day.”

“Marvel or DC?” I asked him.

“Oh Marvel for sure.”

With that answer, I knew I would never be friends with this guy, “Oh that’s a great goal to have.” Fucking sucky comics besides for a choice few like Deadpool or Spiderman.

“Yeah, who knows I might start my own company someday.”

“Yeah, Nathan is really talented.” Marinette beamed.

Nathaniel blushed at the nickname. Then I knew I really didn’t like this guy. “Well, we better get going Marinette.” I pulled her arm. “Can’t be late for designing that special...thing.”

“Bye Nathanael !” She called over her shoulder. “What was that about?” Marinette glared.

“I just don’t like that guy, and he’s all…” I scrunched my face, “Creeping over you.” I moved my hands around her to emphasize my point.

“So he has a little crush on me.”

My stomach sank at her words, “Don’t lead him on then if you know.”

“What? He knows we’re just friends.” She brushed a strand of her dark hair back.

“Sure he does, and that’s why he was glaring daggers into the back of my skull. I got a major stalker vibe from him.”

“Oh please.” She scoffed at me. “I’m the one with pictures of Adrien all over my room.”

“That’s way different.” I pointed a finger at her. “One you’re a girl, two you’re an attractive girl, and three…” I knew I couldn’t say hey Adrien is in love with you but he doesn’t know it. “You’re a girl?”

“That was the first point.” She said with her hands on her hips.

“Fine point three is that you are adorable?”

Marinette blushed, “Stop it. No I’m not.”

“Seriously you are the cutest girl I have ever met.” I faced forward and found Adrien standing in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest.

“So was this the work you said you had to do today?” Adrien said coldly. His left foot tapped against the sidewalk in a very angry parent manner.

“We were just working on the other thing I said I was doing today.” I turned to Marinette. “Would you give us a moment?”

“Yeah I just want to speak to Felix for a moment and we’ll join you.” Adrien smiled at her as he emphasized the we part.

“D’accord.” Marinette yanked the supplies from my shoulder and ran inside to probably to take all the pictures of Adrien off her wall.

“Dude, what is your problem today?” I asked once she was out of earshot.

“I don’t have a problem! You’re the one fraternizing with someone who’s younger than you.” Adrien yelled.

“I was not!”

“I heard you say that she’s the cutest girl you ever met.” He spoke in a nasal tone.

“Because she is, that doesn’t mean I like her or anything.” My epiphany happened just then. “You’re jealous.” I pointed at him accusingly. 

“What! That’s ridiculous.” Adrien recrossed his arms. “Why would I care?”

“You like Marinette!” I gapped. Adrien wasn’t in love with Ladybug, he was in love with Marinette.

“No!” His blush deceived him.

“Dude, I’m totally tweeting about this when I get my accounts back.” I teased. “The future Mrs. Agreste has been found! #Adrienetteforever”

“Shut up! I do not like her like that, and you’re being...stupid!” He snapped. “I’m going inside and convincing Marinette to lock you out.” Adrien stomped away from me.

“So you can have some alone time?” I wiggled my brow.

“If you keep that I’m, I’m going to throw you off the Eiffel Tower.”

“But, who would be the best man at your wedding?”

Adrien turned and punched me in the arm. “I’m serious!”He glared.

“Alright, I’ll keep your love on the down low for meow.”

He punched me again before we ascended the stairs, but I already decided the jab was totally worth it. "#Adrienettefever," I laughed as we reached the door. It earned me another punch. Totally worth it.


	10. Gabriel's question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix helps Adrien and Marinette get ready for clubbing for the first time, and their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys let me know what hero you think Felix should be! I was thinking maybe something along the lines of Nightwing, or making him a Tiger just so he gets stuck with the cat ears he hates. Let me know your ideas please! I'll pick the best one and add it into the story. It's gotta stick with the animal theme so he doesn't stick out against other miraculous users. 
> 
> Thanks for all the support <3

**Felix**

My costume wouldn’t be finished till Monday, which was the same day the Vogue July issue would be released. “I can’t wait to wear it!” Of course I still had to make weapons or at least a weapon to match the suit. “It sucks I had to stick to the animal theme.”

“Mmm.” Plagg muttered.

“Hey Plagg, wanna go through Adrien’s journal?”

“Finally you want to do something interesting.” Plagg floated up from my bed.

“I was kidding.”

Plagg floated through my door, “Too late.” He floated back with Adrien’s journal.

“I’m not reading it!” I picked up a Maximum magazine.

“Gross naked women.” Plagg chucked the journal at my face.

“They aren’t naked. They’re almost naked, there’s a difference.” I rolled my eyes and put Adrien’s journal on the side of my bed.

“Fine, I’ll read it to you.” Plagg cleared his voice, “So I’m going to my first club tonight! I really want to ask Marinette to go, but I’m afraid she won’t say yes. I’ll have to figure out a way to ask her to come. I really want to dance with her.” Plagg laughed. “Adrien is weird.”

I pulled the journal out of his paws, “Adrien is a normal fifteen-year-old. I was way more awkward than him.” I wanted to add I probably watched twice the amount of porn he did, but I kept that to myself.   

“And you still are. But, I’m actually trying to get you to text Marinette from Adrien’s phone and ask her to come to the club with him tonight.”

“Marinette clubbing?” I wrinkled my nose trying to imagine clumsy Marinette managing to sway back and forth without falling on her face.

“Well I doubt it’s Adrien’s thing either, but at least they’ll both be awkward together.”

“Plagg, you have a great point, but I don’t think Adrien would want me to do that for him.” I pictured how mad he would be. “Just kidding, let’s do it.” I laughed.

“I knew you would do it.” Plagg grabbed the journal and floated back through my door. He was back in a second, “Hurry! We have to do it before Adrien finishes his shower.”

“He sure spends a lot of time in the shower.” I texted Marinette, “He probably masturbates in there.”

Plagg gagged, “Why would you tell me that!”

“I honestly thought you knew.” I waited for Marinette’s reply on the assumption she hadn’t fainted. “It’s hard to tell when you’re being sarcastic.” I failed to realize I just texted Marinette our conversation absentmindedly.

Her reply was short, “ _Sure I’d love to go clubbing with you.”_

I burst out laughing at one of the best things I've ever done,“I accidentally texted her that Adrien masturbates in the shower!” I laughed so hard I dropped the phone.

“Delete the texts before Adrien sees!” Plagg smacked my face.

“Okay, okay.” _“Sorry, Felix stole my phone and thought it would be funny to send that. I look forward to seeing you tonight Mari :).”_  “Boom done.” I handed the phone back to Plagg who rushed back to Adrien’s room. I picked up my phone to text Mari, _“Did you like the vivid image I put into your head ;D.”_

_“Felix, you are so embarrassing! Stop stealing his phone to text me. Is he really looking forward to seeing me tonight? What should I wear?”_

I crinkled my forehead, why would she ask me that? _“Um something slutty and revealing. Or you could just show up naked and make Adrien’s night.”_

_“You’re so embarrassing! I swear I will throw you off a building. >:(“ _

_“I was kidding. Do you want to patrol together before clubbing? I could help you pick something out.”_

_“You’re not going?”_

Should I go clubbing, I asked myself. _“Naw, it’s your night. I’ll just patrol.”_

_“Felix, you’re the best! <3.” _

I sighed, yep that’s me Felix Finch best half-brother ever. 

 

**Adrien**

 

“Felix, I have a question,” I called from outside his door.

“Yeah?” Felix opened his bedroom door. His grey eyes were half opened, and his light blonde hair was everywhere.

“Were you napping?” I asked.

“Yeah, I guess I fell asleep watching anime.” Felix yawned. “Why, what’s up?”

“I don’t know what to wear to the club, or how to ask Marinette to go.” I felt myself blush.

“Oh, sure let’s go to your closet.” He yawned again. “And Marinette is already going. Alya invited her.”

“Oh duh, I guess I forgot Nino was bringing Alya.” I felt guilty that Felix wasn’t coming. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” I secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

“No, I’m just going to patrol.”

“By yourself?” Guilt twisted my stomach. “Couldn’t you just wait for me to get done?”

Felix opened my closet, “Dude, I’ll be fine. Besides if I seduce Peacock hottie, I wouldn’t want you around.” He started to throw clothes out on my bed.

“Yeah, she sure seemed like she was into you.” I said sarcastically. "Especially when you kicked her off a roof." 

“That’s how playing hard to get works between heroes and villains. Haven’t you watched Batman?” Felix held up two shirts. "It's like superhero foreplay. It gets the blood pumpin'."

“Whatever you say.” I watched Felix work with interest. He actually had a great eye, and the way he put outfits together reminded me of father working. “You look a lot like father.” I blurted out.

Felix gave a sad half smile, “That’s what I thought when I first met him. Crazy to already know what I'll look like in 30 years." 

“But, you’re nothing like him.” I assured him, "And father isn't even 40 yet?"

“I’m nothing like either of my parents.”

Felix’s answer hollowed out the air between us. My life hadn’t been easy, but I never stopped to wonder that his life hadn’t been either.

“Done except I’ll lend you my leather jacket if you want it.”

The outfit he picked up was actually cool looking. A gray printed tee, with an oversized navy button-down shirt with short sleeves, some black skinny jeans, and my black converse sneakers. “This actually looks really good.” I wish I had Felix’s eye for outfits instead of father picking out my outfits.

“Well, I guess I did get something from my mom. You know if you really want to get laid, you dress super classy. Rich sluts love class dudes who wear designer.” He smirked with a look that told me this was from experience. Maybe his life hadn't been so difficult afterall.

“I haven’t see you dress like that.” I would choose to ignore his wisdom. I'd have to create a mental folder called 'advice from Felix one should ignore.'

Felix shrugged, “I haven’t felt the need to seduce any slutty rich girls I guess. Besides, that’s my mom’s image for me.” Felix looked out the window. “I’m more of jeans and a t-shirt kind of guy.”

“Yet you change how you dress to get a girl.” I scoffed at him throwing the grey tee shirt on.

“Just like what you’re doing?”

“Mari is more than just some girl,” I replied defensively. "She's a friend."

“True, but you’re still changing to impress her,” Felix smirked and left my room.

“So.” I said to an empty room. "I'm not the first or last guy to do that." 

Plagg floated up from the minifridge, “How am I going to sleep in a noisy club?” He whined now that he had my undivided attention.

“You can live, it’s just for a night.” I appreciated the nice shirt pocket on the button up that Felix planned for me to put Plagg in.

“Couldn’t I just stay with Felix.”

“What if there’s an akuma attack?” I finished getting dressed.

“So, just call Felix to bring me back.”

“Plagg, I just don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Fine, but I want earplugs.” Plagg went inside my shirt pocket. “I think Nino has a pair.” I grabbed my phone off my bed, and headed downstairs.

Father stood on the staircase with a surprised expression, “Adrien, what are you wearing?” Father asked confused.

“Oh, Felix helped me pick it out.” I braced myself for criticism.

“He picked this out?” Father scratched his chin. “Maybe the boy has talent after all.” He mused. His glasses slid down his nose as he inspected the whole outfit.

“I’m going to go hang out with Nino. I’ll be back later.” I rushed out the door before father could talk to me about anything else, or protest the fact I was seeing Nino.

 

**Felix**

 

I gathered up my make-do costume from Adrien’s room and started to head out when Gabriel stopped me on the stairs.

“Felix, can I have a word with you.”

“Sure Dad.” I replied and watched his left eye twitch in frustration at the word dad.

“I wanted to remind you to be responsible on your first free night in Paris.”

“Sure I’ll remember that when I finish my joint.”

“That’s not funny!” Gabriel snapped.

“I’m kidding.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be with Marinette the whole night. Super safe, super clumsy designer Marinette that you liked, remember?”

“Oh her. She is very talented.” Gabriel shot me a quizzical look, “Isn’t she a little young for you?”

“Why does everyone say that?” I muttered, “She's almost 16, and I’m almost 18. Plus I’m not even interested in her like that.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrow at me, “I was just inquiring. I wasn’t aware this was a question you were frequently receiving. Is she what you and Adrien have been fighting over?”

“What? We aren’t fighting over her.” My face burned, and I was sure it was flushed red. “She’s just a friend, and she’s helping me design something.”

“You could always come to me with that Felix.” Gabriel’s tone almost sounded fatherly. "That is my job afterall." 

“Well..." I sputtered thinking of a believable lie, "It’s for you. Marinette is helping me design an idea for…” Shit, “Men’s formal wear! I can’t show you till we have the sketches done.” I backed up towards the front door.

Gabriel scrunched his forehead, “Agreste line already released formal wear.”

“That’s right, but it’s for next year.” I smiled till my cheeks hurt as I tried to emulate being excited.

“Thinking ahead Felix. You confuse and impress me.” Gabriel smiled at me. My first real smile from Gabriel like he was oddly proud of me for some reason.

So weird, I thought. “Glad I do, see you later!” I ran out the door before he realized I was walking to Marinette’s. 

The walk to Marinette’s was much faster once I actually knew where I was going. I was at her front door in twenty minutes. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.” I smiled.

“Hello, Felix! Are you here for Marinette?” Mrs. Dupain smiled.

“Sure am, she’s helping me design...formal wear.”

“Oh that’s our Marinette.” Mr. Dupain air pumped his fist proudly.

“Felix!” Marinette ran forward to me. “They didn’t embarrass me again?” She asked in a low voice.

“Nope, I was just telling them about the formal wear we’re designing,” I said loudly.

“Great-that’s awesome. Let’s go get started.” She pulled me upstairs.

“So here’s a plot twist, I may have told Gabriel that you were helping me design formal wear that he now wants to see.” I rubbed the back of neck.

Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Why would you tell him that! I've never designed men's formal wear!" 

“It just came out! You brought it up the other day, and I had to tell him something. It's not like I could say hey dad, papa, the father who gave life to me, I'm gonna go be Batman. Cool beans?”

Marinette placed her head in her hand, “We’ll figure it out, but right now you have to help me get ready for dancing tonight.”

“Clubbing, and of course. I can do a pretty good French braid.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow,“A French braid for clubbing?”

“It’s the only hairstyle I know how to do on girls besides a ponytail.”

 

Marinette took an entire hour to find an outfit even with my help. “Take my leather jacket if you want the bad girl look, unless you have one.” I said lazily as I flipped through an old Adrien filled magazine.

“Bad girl look?” Marinette bit her lip. Marinette finally decided on a high waisted leather black skirt, a lacy, red crop top, red heels, and a long ladybug necklace. Marinette started to break out the makeup, “Maybe I will wear it. Won’t it be huge on me?”

“Probably.” I shrugged. She would look cool in a leather jacket that any guy would go crazy over.

Marinette started her makeup, “Maybe I’ll borrow it. I don’t have a leather jacket. I wish I had a red one.”

“We could always check the dress rack back at the mansion. There’s tons of clothes in there.” I failed to mention that the dress rack closet was bigger than the bedroom I was in, and circled the room twice. It was filled with items that Gabriel liked, or the previous Mrs. Agreste wore. I wasn’t sure that Gabriel would want me to borrow something for Marinette. Then again, he never said I couldn't.

“Adrien never mentioned anything like that.”

I shrugged, “Maybe he doesn’t want everyone interrupting his showers.” I grinned.

Marinette turned bright red picking up a foundation brush,“Would you cut that out!”

“You know he does it. Every guy does it.” I snickered at her flustered expression.

“Stop it or I will throw you out that window!” She stomped her foot.

“Okay, okay. I won’t soil our precious Adrien’s image.” My mind thought back to what Gabriel said earlier, _Is she what you two have been fighting over?_ I brushed the thought aside, Adrien and I weren’t fighting. Why would we fight over Marinette? I looked at her pout her lips to plaster red lipstick on her face. She didn’t really need makeup, but it did help complete the outfit.

“How should I do my hair?” Marinette untied her pigtails.

“Down?”

“Oh! Would you help me put waves in my hair?” She asked as she dug in her vanity.

“Sure?” I stood up and grabbed the curling wand.

Marinette pulled up a beauty video on Youtube, “Just follow this.”

I followed the video the best I could, and it actually turned out pretty good. “Done.”

“Felix, it looks great!” Marinette turned her head in the mirror. She looked older, and her blue eyes sparkled. “You should go to beauty school.”

I groaned, “Ugh, no thank you. I only did this for you.” I couldn't imagine my mother's face knowing I was a badass superhero by night who plastered on lipstick for a living by day. She'd never let me live it down. 

Marinette smiled, “Can I wear your jacket?”

I shrugged my black leather jacket off, “Here.” Why did it make my heart race when she took it? 

Marinette threw it on even though it swallowed her. “Maybe we should go check out the closet.” Marinette held up her arms as the sleeves swallowed her hands. She reminded me of a doll. A very pretty doll.

“Sure, Gabriel is going to a party tonight anyway so he won’t be home.”

 _Is she what you two have been fighting over?_ I shook my head as I followed Marinette down her narrow stairs. Adrien and I were not fighting over her. Ridiculous. Marinette was just a friend.


	11. Felix fights his feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is off on his own and stumbles into the Peacock while Adrien and Marinette enjoy their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm torn between giving Felix his own miraculous or just giving him an awesome costume so he can be the Robin of the group essentially. Let me know your thoughts! 
> 
> Thanks for all the support <3

**Felix**

 

We dug around the giant closet to no avail. “I found a red jacket, but no leather.”

Marinette pouted in defeat, “Well your jacket will be fine.”

“Adrien might have one.” I offered.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be weird showing up in one of his jackets?” Marinette blushed.

I shrugged, “Personally I wouldn’t care. I doubt Adrien would mind.” I led Marinette to his bedroom and went back through his closet. Adrien didn’t have a single leather piece in his whole collection. “I need to tell Gabriel to have more leather in his collections,” I muttered.

“It’s fine, I’ll just wear your jacket.” Marinette rolled up the sleeves. My jacket made her look edgy over her tight clothes, yet somehow she still looked adorable in it.  The black just made her eyes look bluer.

“I better walk you to Alya’s place.” I broke my stare.

“Didn’t you want to patrol together?”

“Yeah, but I can’t have you ruin your hair,” I smirked. "I did spend a lot of time on it."

Marinette giggled, “I suppose you’re right. It was awfully nice of you to do.”

I shrugged, “Anything for you.” The words rolled easily off my tongue. What was wrong with me? Why did I sound like a cheesy shojo manga character all of sudden?

“Oh, Felix.” Marinette blushed and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.

We didn’t talk until we arrived at Alya’s.

“Did you want to come in?” Marinette offered. Her leather skirt rode up her creamy thighs.

I should say no, I thought. “Just for peau de temps.” 

Marinette giggled, “Have you been working on your French?”

“Not really. It seems like almost everyone I meet wants to practice their English with me or just speaks English except that Mandarin teacher.” I said bitterly. “He only speaks French or Mandarin.”

“Isn’t that the whole point?”

“How can I learn if I have no idea what he’s talking about?”

“Doesn’t he draw pictures?”

“Only once.” We arrived at Alya’s apartment.

I heard Alya and her parents speaking French very fast, and understood none of it. Alya yelled something at her parents and waved before she joined us by the door. “Let’s go.” She grabbed Mari’s arm. “Are you dancing with us tonight Felix?”

“No, I have other plans.” That wasn’t really a lie. I did have plans that involved me fighting crime.

“Oh okay. Guess you’re too cool for us.” Alya’s tone sounded a little hurt.

“Well, I’d hate to be the fifth wheel.” I hinted to her.

Alya’s eyes went wide with realization, “I guess you’re right.” She said with a sly smile.

I noticed the sky was getting dark, “Hey you both have fun tonight. I’m going to head back before I end up lost.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out at Nino’s till we leave?” Marinette stared at me.

“I have stuff to do. Have a good night ladies!” I waved. I needed to distance myself from Marinette anyway. I tried to think of that hot evil redhead or curly, blonde Emily back home, but my thoughts went back to Marinette. “Why does this happen to me?” I palmed my face.

 

Adrien

 

After a couple of hours at Nino’s, we finally headed to the club. I waited in line excited with Marinette and Alya. Nino was already inside. “You look really pretty Marinette.”

She blushed, “Th-thanks Adrien.” She moved a strand of hair behind her ear. “Felix helped me with my hair.”

“Oh, I didn’t know he knew did hair,” I said flatly. I recalled him saying he would be patrolling tonight not styling hair in Marinette’s bedroom. Alone in Marinette's bedroom.

“Yeah, he watched a tutorial and did it.” Marinette stared at me blushing, “You’re really lucky to have such an awesome brother.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Not as awesome as you-I mean.” She bit her lip and looked down.

I smiled, “Yeah, he’s awesome. I’m glad he helped you get ready because you look amazing.” I brushed a strand of black hair out of her eyes. I would have to deal with Felix and his makeovers later.

Mari blushed again, “Adrien.” She whispered with sparkly eyes that gazed into mine. They were so beautiful. The kind of blue you'd want to drown in.

I felt like the whole world faded away when I looked into her big blue eyes. “Mari, I-”

“Guys they’re letting people inside now.” Alya pushed her way towards us.

The moment was over, but I brushed Mari’s hand. “Let’s go.”

 

Felix

 

I sat on a roof that overlooked the Seine and had my Pandora app open that played in the background. _“Tell me pretty lies, look me in the face. Tell me you love me, even if it’s fake.”_ I sighed angrily at myself. I felt weird about the whole situation. I wasn’t jealous of Adrien. I wanted him to be happy. “I don’t like her.” I threw a rock into the seine. A tourist looked around to find the source confused as to why the water rippled. “What a crazy Saturday night,” I muttered. I should be used to being alone by now, but I couldn’t get the image of Marinette in my jacket out of my head. I laid down on the black roof I was on and looked into the night sky. There were no stars, but I could see the Eiffel tower lit up in the distance. I smirked at all of Marinette’s threats to throw me off of there. I almost wished she had at that moment.

“Well, Kitten is all alone again.” A voice called in a sickly sweet tone.

I sat up, “Not with you around pretty bird.” I stared at her super hot figure on the other roof.

She jumped onto my roof, “Our fight was interrupted last time.”

“I thought it was because I kicked you off a roof.” I stood up.

“That was just dumb luck, there’s no way you could ever beat me.” She flicked her fan open.

“Well honestly I was just hoping to-” I stared at her as she walked around me. Her ass looked so good. Unnervingly good. “That offer for the kiss still stands.” I bit my lip and wished she would take the offer. I could have used a distraction from Marinette.

“Like I would ever kiss a creep like you.” She tried to kick me from behind.

I ducked, “Creep? I would say, loveable dork, or sexy stranger. Creep is just insulting.” I grabbed her leg and pulled causing her to fall onto the roof with me.

She attempted to punch me, but ended up punching the roof with the back of her fist as I pinned her down. She pulled back her left leg like she was going to kick me upside the head when I grabbed it in midair.

I held her legs, “If you wanted me between you, you could have just said so.” I smirked and was tempted to just dive on top of her. That didn't seem like proper superhero etiquette though.

“You pig!” She kicked my face while I was busy thinking about what Batman would do in this situation.

“You’re the one spreading your legs!” I held the right side of my face. “That actually really hurt babe. I thought we were play fighting.”

“Play this!” She punched my gut.

“Ow!” I wheezed. “I guess play fight isn’t happening tonight.” I leaned back on my right hand. I should really get away from her now.

“No, it’s not.” She tried to punch my face again, but I blocked it.

I dove away from her knowing I was severely outmatched, “Let’s show Paris our love babe. I wanna do you on top of the Eiffel Tower when you renounce Hawk Moth for our love.” I sent her an air kiss. “I wanna hear you scream my name.” I winked at her and knew she would lose it.

“I’m going to kill you!” She screamed but took the bait.

I ran towards the club jumping over roofs till I ran out of roofs. Everything dipped towards a huge square with rail tracks going around it. The club was on the other side. People were muddling around too. “Shit.” I needed to get down fast and get into that club without accidentally hurting someone. Adrien hadn’t answered my call. I turned to see hottie right behind me. I saw the fire escape to my left. “fuck, fuck, fuck.” I repeated as I jumped off the roof and landed on the fire escape. I tripped and smacked my face against the bars. “Fuck!” I held my face. That really hurt. It would bruise. Oh, Gabriel was gonna be pissed.

“You can’t get away from me Cat Boy.” She sneered from the rooftop with her fan ready.

“Wasn’t trying to Babe.” I winked and started to run down the steps.

“I didn’t want to use this, but you left me no choice.” She shouted.

I ran and jumped down the steps when I felt a sharp pain in my back. I reached behind my shoulder to pull out a very sharp peacock feather. “OW!” I leaped off the fire escape and tumbled on the ground. My knees smacked the cement, and I heard the fan swish again. “Babe, this isn’t the play fight I had in mind!” I fled behind a garbage can. How did Batman consider this foreplay? It fucking hurt!

“Too bad Kitten.”

I huffed out of breath, “Adrien answer your stupid phone!” I winced in pain over my shoulder. I felt blood start to drip through the hoodie. “Gabriel is going to kill me.” I remembered I have a shoot and interview on Monday. He'd let me do the shoot covered head to toe then ground me the entire summer and possibly strangle me when I annoyed him too much.

“Aw my poor Kitten, you get stabbed once and suddenly the attitude is gone.” Peacock landed beside the garbage can. She lifted her fan with a threatening smile.

“I wouldn’t say it’s all gone.” I kicked the garbage can at her and pulled another one to dump it over her head. “Sorry to ruffle your feathers and leave, but you’re just not playing nice.” I ran from her toward the club.

“Just where do you think you’re going kitten!” She shouted.

Hopefully, that slowed her down some. I jumped over a railing that kept the club line in place. “Sorry, need to get through. It’s Chat Noir.” I jumped over a dude. I flipped over the bouncer, “Just grabbing someone. Keep crazy chick out for me will ya?” I said practically out of breath. The music boomed at me, and my ears started to hurt. “Ladybug!” I shouted. No one heard me. “Damnit.” I jumped over people and ran towards the stage. “Excuse me!” I jumped up on the bar to see that the DJ was on the second floor. “Why can’t anything be easy today!” I saw a sign illuminating stairs and ran for them. I ran up the stairs breathing like a madman as I pushed a very drunk girl in cheetah print out of the way. Nino hadn’t noticed me till I tapped his shoulder.

He took off his headphones, “Chat Noir?”

“I need to borrow your mike!” I said before I felt something stab me in the shoulder again. The bad one. What a bitch stabbing the same freaking spot! “Ladybug!” I shouted. “Play the Titan’s theme song dammit.”

“Uh, which one.”

“The only one that matters!” I held a trash bin to guard us against the sharp feathers.

“Alright, dude.” Nino bobbed his head. “This one goes out to Ladybug from Chat Noir who needs your help,” Nino spoke into the mike.

 

Adrien

 

Chat Noir needs Ladybug? I turned to Marinette who looked around confused. Teen Titan’s theme song rang through the club, _“When there’s trouble you know who to call, Teen Titans! From their tower, they can see it all, Teen Titans!”_

I stared up and saw a cat figure backed into a corner by another figure. “Felix.” I turned to look for Marinette, but she was gone.

“What’s going on?” Alya pulled out her cell phone obviously gearing up for exclusive content for the Lady blog.

“I’m going to find Mari, just stay here!” I ran into the bathroom. “Time for a costume change Plagg.”

 

Felix

 

Blood sputtered down my back. “Babe, you really like it rough today.” I gasped. The stinging sensation from my shoulder was almost overwhelming as I tried to stay focused.

“I’ll show you rough,” She flashed a cold grin as she raised her fan again.

“I can’t stand animal abuse.” Ladybug knocked her fan with her yo-yo.

“Ladybug!” Peacock girl sounded scared. Who would have thought little Marinette would be considered terrifying?

“Hand over your stolen miraculous now, or face the consequences.” Marinette posed heroically.

I could totally see why everyone would have a crush on her. I laid my head back against the wooden beam and watched the scene play out. I was going to have to get to a hospital eventually. I'd certainly feel better knowing Mari kicked this chick's butt.

Peacock girl raised her fan, “Do anything and I will kill Kitten over here.”

“Paw-don me ladies.” Adrien landed on a beam to the right. “Don’t mind if I cut in.”

Peacock girl moved her feet back and looked scared. “This isn’t worth it.” Suddenly smoke filled the club, and everyone started to shout.

I coughed then felt leather hands grab me. “Hang on.” Adrien carried me out of the club. “You should have called.” He took us towards the emergency exit that lead to the roof of the club.

“I kind of did six times.” I rolled my eyes and shoved him off. “I’m okay, tis but a scratch.” I felt the back of the hoodie damp with blood that clung to my right shoulder. A new shockwave of pain hit as I moved it. Fuck.

“Father is going to kill us.” Adrien pulled the back of the hoodie up.

“Bad?”

“Well, it looks like you’ll need stitches.”

I sighed, “Drop me off at the nearest hospital, but come get me after when you transform.” I winced as I pulled off the hoodie. “Sorry about the hoodie. I’ll ask Marinette to fix it since she’s working on my uh cosplay costume anyway.”

“You might want to tell her to find thicker material.” Adrien pulled the hoodie back down.

“You’re telling me. I can’t believe she actually tried to kill me after she practically spread her whole lady biz in front of me earlier.” I joked. "Seriously though. I thought we had a thing going and that battle went way beyond your typical hero fighting foreplay."

“You obviously can’t be too bad if you’re making jokes.” Adrien snorted.

“Yeah.” I felt Adrien take half of my weight when he slung my left side on his right. “I’m sorry I ruined your date.” The world was spinning a little.

“You’re my brother, and way more important than any date. Mari will understand.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she will.” I closed my eyes and pictured Ladybug. “Ladybug is really hot,” I whispered.

Adrien laughed, “Yeah she is.”

If only he knew how beautiful Marinette was under that red spotted mask. I opened my eyes downward to see Marinette staring at us from across the street as a civilian. I gave a sad wave before Adrien carried me away. Stitches, here I come.


	12. Felix gets busted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second week in, and Felix gets grounded. An interview gone wrong are the least of his worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Felix will be out and about in his suit swearsies guys. I'm thinking Chat Blanc maybe his calling. I'll toy with it, but let me know your thoughts! Felix being grounded sets up the next chapter in which Adrien finally gets some alone time with Marinette ;D
> 
> Thanks for all the support <3

**Felix**

The hospital visit was short, and luckily my mom’s insurance was something Gabriel wasn’t a part of. He wouldn't even know I was here. At least in theory.

“You’re a foolish young man Mr. Finch. You’re not supposed to go after a mugger.” The Indian doctor lectured me. I think he name was Patel. He was a bigger man with a jolly looking face framed by thick-rimmed glasses.

“Then who would stop him?” I winced as I felt him touch the right side of my face.

“The police, now look at your face. How will you model for your father with a bruised face? You’re lucky you didn’t get a concussion.” He clucked his tongue at me. He seemed like a fatherly sort of man. Unlike my actual father who was bound to breathe fire if he found out.

I checked my face in the client bathroom after my stitches to see my right side that had turned a ghostly purple. The doctor was right, I thought bitterly. “Gabriel is going to kill me.”

 

Adrien and I spent our only day off in his room with an all-day Anime binge of: Sailor Moon, Hunter Hunter, Inuyasha, Black Butler, and One Punch Man. Gabriel only checked on us once to shame us for “ being so wasteful with our day off.” Gabriel never noticed my bruised face that I had to keep icing. We had fun together, and that was all that really mattered. Marinette texted me to ask how I was, and I filled her in. I hid the conversation from Adrien because he had been happily texting her to my left. My stomach knotted when I saw him smile every time her name appeared on his screen. I tried to ignore the need to read their conversation. Overall it had been a great Sunday. My first brotherly Sunday that hopefully would be one of many this summer.

 

Monday was when everything blew up. First Gabriel gave me back my social media accounts with conditions. “Your Facebook is now just a public page, and will be written by Natalie.”

“Okay?”

“You can have your Snapchat, Lively, and Instagram. I expect you to post three times a day, five days a week.”

“Alright, thanks, I guess.” I was finally able to open the apps on my phone once he unlocked it. That’s when I noticed I had half a million followers on Instagram, a shit load of people that dm’d me, tons of snaps from random people, and my Lively account was now in the top 15 most followed. I didn’t even like my lively account. I didn't even post anything interesting.

After that, the day was normal for awhile: Mandarin and French with Adrien, karate that went better because I actually fought back against the twelve-year-olds, and then lunch with Adrien.

I flicked my soup at Adrien, “This soup is terrible.”

“It is, but it reminds me of all the teen angst that I have to get out.” Adrien brushed his bangs to cover one eye. “I can’t fall behind like someone.” He threw some soup in my direction with his spoon.

“So much angst that no one understands.” I sang into my spoon. “Better go play some old my chemical romance.”

“Boys!” Natalie clicked.

“Hey, I used a napkin this time and I was on key. Plus it rhymed! I'm like a music genius over her Nat.”

Natalie rolled her eyes, “Your interview is at 3, Mr. Finch.”

I scrunched my nose, “Mr. Finch?”

Adrien had the same look then flicked his spoon again.

Soup hit my nose, “Hey I wasn’t ready.” I fired back.

“Eat your food!” Natalie left us.

“You’re a growing boy, Mr. Agreste, better finish your delicious chicken breast.” I made a chicken mustache.

Adrien laughed when he saw. “Well, Mr. Finch I suggest you finish your vegetables since broccoli is full of fiber, which you need at your age.” Adrien stroked his broth goatee.

I almost choked on my chicken, “Absolutely Mr. Agreste.”

“If you boys don’t finish in five minutes, I will get your father!” Natalie shouted from the front. “I swear you both act like children!”

Adrien and I laughed but finished our bland food. It was nice I had someone to be immature with.

“Hey, I good luck on your shoot and interview.” He fist bumped me. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner.”

“Yeah, see you tonight.” I watched him leave and wished whatever magazine would have just had us together. I sighed and headed to my room to change. My shoulder still hurt, but it wasn’t terrible. The only thing that plagued me was the dream I had last night. Marinette met me on top of the Eiffel tower, and the whole thing felt wrong. _“Felix,”_ She breathed on my lips. _“Marinette, I-”_ Then blood dripped off her hands as I fell backward. _“Felix!”_ I shuddered as I could still hear her scream.

The half-hour passed in a blur, but I sketched some before Natalie called for me. I was decent at drawing faces, and Mari’s smile was on my mind. It was surreal seeing it on paper. I just couldn't get her dimples right though.

 

“So Felix Finch, lost son of Gabriel Agreste and famous model Iris Finch, how does it feel to finally be united with your father and half-brother Adrien Agreste?”

The lights blinded me, “Great. I really enjoy reconnecting with my father and Adrien.” I lied about the Gabriel part.

“How is your relationship with Adrien?”

“Fantastic, it’s like we were never apart. We get into all sorts of trouble.” Fuck, I cursed myself. It was true reporters asked a bunch of questions to lower your guard down. Natalie had warned me of that.

“Trouble?” The interviewer raised her perfectly arched brown brow.

“Oh just around the manor.” I scratched the back of my head. “Mostly we’ve been reconnecting over our career and friends.”

“I see. Do you have any plans to join the Agreste family permanently? Gabriel has spoken recently about making you a permanent part of his brand.” She peered over her cat eyeglasses.

I blinked, “Oh that’s something that will have to be discussed down the road as a family.” People liked to hear the word family. Family was a good thing unless your father thought you were an annoying pest he humped into your mother 17 years ago.

“So Felix, the most popular question we’ve received from Twitter from our fanbase is this: are you single?” She laughed. Her laugh sounded forced though.

My face fell, “At the moment I am not attached to anyone officially.” My fingers twitched. Shit. Marinette was going to read that.

“Oh, there is someone?”

My voice left me. I blinked and my gut twisted with Marinette’s scream that rang in my head. “No, not at the moment.” I felt myself fall, and her scream ripped me at the seams. I blinked away the queasiness, “Any other questions?” My mouth was dry. I needed water. I needed to get out of here.

The woman’s mouth opened, but I couldn’t hear anything. My heart stopped, “Could you repeat that?”

“I asked if things were tense in the Agreste household after Mrs. Agreste’s death. We still aren’t sure how she passed away.” She tapped her pen. "Everything was so private-"

My palms felt sweaty, and Mari’s scream still echoed. “I’m not sure I know how to answer that question.” I knew Mrs. Agreste died. How the fuck was I supposed to know how? I've been in Paris for a couple freakin' days.

“Your interview time is up.” Natalie clicked her way over.

“But, I haven’t even asked him about the fight last night!” She protested to deaf ears. 

My head pounded. “Natalie, can we stop by a shop on the way home?”

“Five minutes, and not a minute more.”She replied as she ushered me into the silver car Gorilla was driving. That dude had to have a name.

I directed the driver to the magic shop. I hobbled in and saw just the girl I wanted. “Juleka right?”

“Yeah.” She stared at me. “You look like shit.” She said bluntly.

“What do you know about visions?”

Juleka dug behind the desk and pulled out a frayed book. “You can borrow this, but I need it back tomorrow. Personally, I don’t know anything about visions, but this book should help.”

“Merci.” I held the book to my chest. “I had a vision that I died.”

“Normally when you die in a dream it means that an old version of yourself is dead, and a new beginning is on the way.”

“What does it mean the other times?”

She shrugged, “That you’ll die.” She had the ghost of a smile on her face, "It probably just means a new beginning is on the way though. No need to look so terrified."

"Right," I responded leaving the shop with the book in hand, "New beginnings, please just let it be that."

 

**Adrien**

 

“They asked him what!” I heard father shout from his office. “I’m glad he didn’t know how to answer, how dare they ask a question like that!”

I headed into the dining room. I wondered what question they asked Felix. _Nino: "Dude, nice abs. Marinette was freaking out over your spread.”_ I gave a dreamy sigh, _“Haha really? I’m glad she was impressed.”_ I texted back with a smile thinking about a flustered Marinette. Her big blue eyes that looked into mine on Saturday. The feel of her pressed against me as the music pumped through us. I wished we could have gone somewhere more romantic, and just slow danced. I would have pulled her close under the stars and finally have kissed her.

“Adrien, would you stop daydreaming for a moment.” Felix sat down by me at the dinner table instead of across from me.

“Oh sorry.” I stared at him. “You look like shit.”

“I had trouble sleeping last night.” Felix stared at me with glassy grey eyes. “Now I just have a really bad migraine.” Felix shook his head, and I could see the bruise on his cheek under his makeup. 

“A lot happened last night. I won’t let you go out alone again.”

He nodded, “yeah.” His eyes went wide as father entered the dining room.

“Felix, I apologize that you had to deal with that rude interviewer. Next time Adrien will be with you.” Father sat down across from us. He stared at Felix, “Are you alright?” His grey eyes matched Felix's and they seemed to study him intently looking for flaws. Looking for secrets.

“Just not feeling good.” He stood up from the table. “Can I be excused?”

I stared at Felix, he must be sick because he’s never that polite to father.

“Of course. Let me know if you need anything.” He watched Felix run out of the room. “Are you feeling well Adrien?”

“I’m fine father.” I took a bite of fish. "What did the interviewer ask Felix?" I carefully moved my knife across the fish watching perfectly seared flesh come apart.

"Nothing important."

I nodded in response as if I agreed with him. From his shouting earlier it had to have been something of importance. I'd have to ask Felix.

**Felix**

  
When all else failed, I decided to Skype my mom. “Mom.” I laid on the white bed. “Mom, I have a spiritual question to ask you.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in that stuff.” She shook her wavy caramel brown hair out. It gently waved around her face and shoulders.

“Mom, I had a dream last night that wasn’t a dream and I-I died because of a fall.” I could still feel the horrible sensation of the fall. I could still hear the scream.

“Honey, that isn’t exactly uncommon. One of the instincts we were born with is fear of falling. What happened exactly?” My mom puckered her lips to put on lipstick. Of course, she had placed her phone on the vantity. She probably had a party to go to.

I fingered the frayed book that Juleka gave me, “I was on the Eiffel tower with a girl. She was about to kiss me when there was blood on her hands. Blood was everywhere, and I fell off. She screamed my name, and I could just feel myself fall.”

“Felix, hun.” Mother mused over skype.

“Yeah.” I hid my face in my arm. I had always done that when I was in trouble. When I didn't want to face something.

My mom didn't mention this childlike habit, “It sounds like you’ve fallen for this girl, and are afraid of it.”

I snorted, “No.”

“See you ask for my advice and blow me off.” My mom pulled up the shimmery green straps of her dress, at least I assumed it was a dress.

“Mom, I seriously felt myself fall and hit the ground.”

“I stick by my theory, or it might have been the fact you had to get five stitches Saturday night.” Mom’s voice turned stern. Ah, here was mama bear.

“Oh, that.”

“Probably where all the blood was from.”

I smiled sheepishly, “Maybe.”

“Wanna tell me what it was about?” She gazed into the camera directly now. Her green eyes peeling back my arm to meet my grey eyes even though she wasn't physically here to do so. I dropped my arm.

“Someone picked a fight with me.” I shrugged. "No big deal."

Mom rolled her eyes, “ That’s the whole reason I took you out of karate. You don’t have to be the hero.” She emphasized her point with a finger jabbed at the camera. “Gabriel will lose it when he finds out, and I will not protect you from his wrath.”

I picked at the book, “I wasn’t trying to be.” I lied. “I can handle Gabriel,” I muttered. "He happens to think I'm utterly charming, and the best thing to happen in his life."

My mom ignored my lie, “Sure you can." My mom pulled out her mascara. "You haven’t seen him go into hulk mode yet.” She snickered. “I remember when I modeled his spring line all those years ago. This one model GiGi or whatever had the audacity to pick out a different outfit because she didn’t like hers-”

“Hey, Mom?” I finally faced her on skype now that I knew she wasn’t going to yell. “How did Mrs. Agreste die?”

Her face twisted, “Well I heard she had a car accident, but I don’t think that’s appropriate for you to discuss. Besides, you interrupted my story.”

“But, you don’t know for sure?”

“Felix, I don’t think now is an appropriate time.” My mom repeated digging through a jewelry box.

I heard a knock on my door. “Hey Mom, I gotta go. Thanks for talking with me.”

“Call me after your next shoot okay Felix?” She smiled. “Oh, and if Gabriel loses it. I'm sure I can work my own magic charms on him. He might not throw you into military school then.” 

“I will. Love you.” I ended the call.

Adrien cracked the door, “Um is now a good time?”

I nodded, and he came in. “So my mom thinks it’s just an overreaction basically.” I flipped through the tattered book.

“Probably, you did get stabbed twice.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. I checked my phone when I saw my death sentence in the form of a flashing notification on my screen.“We’re in trouble.”

I showed Adrien the gossip update. Agreste Brothers: Seen leaving Northwestern Hospital, Read here for more.

“We’re dead,” Adrien whispered.

“FELIX FREDERICK FINCH!”

“You’re middle name is Frederick?” Adrien snickered like it was the funniest thing in the world. Probably because he was terrified.

“Shut up.” I hit him. “Run back to your room, and pretend like you didn’t know,” I ordered Adrien. He left my room a few seconds before Gabriel arrived.

“When I get my hands on you young man!” Gabriel pounded on my door.

I stood up to open it. “What’s the matter, Dad?” I blinked innocently.

“You got stabbed at a club and hid this from me!” He screamed as he held the article on his phone up.

“I didn’t get stabbed!” I lied. "I twisted my ankle. It was no big deal."

“Take off your shirt this instant.” He bellowed.

“Nothing is there.” I crossed my arms. “Why can’t you just believe me? A lack of trust in our relationship-"

Gabriel lifted the back of my shirt in a fluid motion. “I knew it! You’re grounded. Grounded for an entire month. I swear if this was because of a prostitute or drugs I will lock you in your room without internet, and personally fight for full custody just so I can ground you for the rest of your life!” His shout echoed down the hall.

My mouth gaped open, “That’s just mean. It wasn’t because of a prostitute or drugs I swear!” His threat of adoption wasn’t possible, but I didn’t correct him.

“If you don’t tell me what happened this instant I will take all your chargers, and start the custody claim process!” His face was twisted in rage.

“I just got attacked okay." I held my hands up in surrender, "I fought back and I shouldn’t have. I should have let Ladybug and Chat Noir handle it.”

“You tried to stop an akuma attack!” His eyes bulged, and I swore I could see flames burst in his grey eyes. “How stupid and irresponsible can you be! Maybe it would be good for me to take you because your mother obviously didn’t raise you with enough common sense!” He gripped my arm with an unusual amount of strength.

I flinched, “It’s not her fault. It’s mine.” I looked at the ground. “I shouldn’t have tried to be the hero.” The admission felt like crappy lie. A crappy lie I didn't mean.

“You’re still grounded, and I want you tested for drugs and STDs.”

My mouth gaped open, “I swear neither drugs or a prostitute were involved!”

“Well, then why would you be worried about being tested?” He shot back and headed to the door.

“This is all that dumb Peacock’s fault,” I muttered and slammed myself on the bed.

“What?” Gabriel turned back to me with a cold gaze.

“That’s who Chat Noir and Ladybug were fighting, and I got in the middle of it.” I failed to tell him I was the one who started the whole altercation.

A weird look of confusion crossed over Gabriel’s face, “That doesn’t change things.” He shut the door hard.

I slumped on my bed. “I hate being famous, and I didn’t even have sex with slutty fangirls last night.” I kicked my bed with the back of my ankle. Summer was back to sucking.

 


	13. Felix's Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette finally have their date, and Felix makes a big discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suit is coming next chapter, which I should be posting tonight. Finally have Felix's costume and image all figured out, I would post the picture if I was any good at drawing xD  
> So big reveal here, but it's not what you think (☉_☉) Gabriel has a love interest, who could it be?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for all the support! <3

**Felix**

 Gabriel confiscated my phone, my laptop, and called my mother. Mom convinced him that I only needed a week of being grounded. She must have worked some magic on him because incredibly salty Gabriel complied. “You are not allowed anywhere but here and your karate lessons.”

“Why couldn’t he just ground me from that,” I muttered after he left my room the following morning. 

I had to have Adrien give Marinette who returned the book to Juleka after I realized I would have to have her read it to me since all of it, every single word, was written in French. The manor had a huge library of mostly French books. I found the Art of War in Chinese though, and only a couple worn Dr. Seuss books that must have been Adrien’s in the bottom corner of the bookcase. “Well, Cat in the Hat was always my favorite.” I pulled the book out. I opened the tattered cover and a crayon doodle fell to the floor. I picked the picture up to see three poorly drawn figures on the page. One was all blue and green with blonde hair and feathers, the other figure was purple with what I assumed were butterflies, and the last figure must have been Adrien. The tiniest figure sat between the two giants and was colored yellow and green. I stared at the picture, “I feel like I’m missing something.” I tapped the book on the counter of the shelf. Why would Adrien draw these weird people?

“Felix, lunch is ready,” Natalie called outside the library door.

“Alright,” I answered I slipped the picture back into the book. I shoved the book back where I found it. No harm done. I heard Natalie’s hills click down the hallway, but then I heard solid footsteps. I hid behind an armchair. So maybe I was going to cause a little harm.

“No, I don’t know what happened.” I heard Gabriel’s voice as the footsteps got closer. “No, I’m moving everything into my room.” Gabriel walked in with a box of what appeared to be junk. “I suppose I should tell him about it.” Gabriel sighed. “Do I think they can stop her? Chat Noir and Ladybug never seemed very competent in my opinion.” Gabriel pulled a book from the second to top shelf, and the shelf slid back!

“I always wanted a secret room,” I whispered in awe. My mom never let me have one.

Gabriel spoke French and stepped on something. A second later he was gone.

I ran to the bookcase to stop it before it closed, “A weird drawing and now a stripper pole that slides to the Batcave?” I secretly thanked Adam West Batman for inventing such an amazing way of transportation. I noticed that there was probably a dumbbell weighter that Gabriel had taken beside the pole. “Momma never wanted me on the pole, but I always wanted to be a sexy fireman.” I gripped the silver bar and pushed off. I felt gravity pull me to the ground as I swooshed through the air. I threw my head back to keep my blond hair out my eyes when all too soon my feet hit the cement. “I will never understand why Batman put stairs in the Batcave when he could have one of these?” I whispered. I looked around to see I was just in the garage of the mansion. There were four cars: The white sedan BMW, A sporty black BMW, A deep blue convertible that I had no idea what brand it was because that side of the garage was dark, and my favorite- “I will drive you.” I hugged the red Lamborghini. It was so sexy, and I always wanted one. Mom never lets me have a sports car. She did take me on a yoga retreats to Hawaii though. I always enjoyed the sight of hot women bending over.  

“Maybe you should come to Paris sooner. I...have missed you.” I heard...longing in Gabriel’s voice.

I slid beside the Lambo and ducked my head. Who the heck was he talking to?

“Would you consider joining me here sooner?” His voice was deep and reminded me of something out of a romantic movie.

I peaked over the red beauty to see Gabriel had leaned himself against a wooden door that didn’t match the garage. “Mmm.” Gabriel would never not match. It must have some hidden meaning.

“I enjoyed our conversation from Monday very much.” Gabriel had a dopy half smile on his face.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised Gabriel was seeing someone. Mrs. Agreste had passed almost...three years ago? Four years ago?

“You don’t know how much I missed your voice.”

I felt bile at the back of my throat. Romantic Gabriel was...sickening.

“July? That sounds perfect.” Gabriel straightened up. “I’ll make the preparations for your arrival.” He almost purred. He started speaking in French again, then clicked his phone off. Gabriel climbed into the white sedan, and I felt the floor rise.

I pressed myself against the Lambo as I saw the garage lift, and then sunlight poured through an opening. “Shit Gabriel has a stripper pole and a rising garage? Adrien gets all the cool stuff.” I muttered.

Gabriel pulled out of the garage, so now I had time to investigate. The wooden door was locked, but I could deal with that later. There was another wooden door at the back of the garage that called my name. “Where do you go?” I murmured as I pressed myself against the door. The door was unlocked. I peeked through to a sight that made my stomach sink. There were hundreds of flowers, but even more butterflies. “No.” I fell back against the door.

I may not have been in Paris long, but I knew what Hawk Moth used to akumatized people. I thought back to Adrien’s drawing, the stripper pole, the secret room, the mysterious girlfriend, and now that I found a butterfly garden, “Gabriel is Hawk Moth?”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Adrien! Adrien, did your brother really need medical attention for being stabbed?” A man flashed a camera.

I waved him off, “No.” I lied. Father wanted me to lie.

“Who will  be walking with you in the summer gala next month?” Another one shouted.

I turned my head blinded by all the flashing. I heard Gorilla grunt pushing the reporters back so I could make my way out of the mall. This is why I hated mall promotional events.

“Adrien Agreste!” I heard girl’s voices scream.

“This is why I hate doing mall events!” I grimaced as I prepared myself to be mauled by teenage girls who got passed security.

“This way Adrien.” A small hand yanked me forward and curved us through the food court. “Marinette!” I watched her pigtails bounce as she pulled me forward. I glowed when I realized she was still had my hand. I squeezed her hand delicately, “Thank you Marinette.”

“Oh, I um don’t mention it-I mean it’s no problemo.” She smiled awkwardly.

I ignored her awkwardness, “So why are you here?” Please say because of me, please say because of me.

“Oh! yeah, I came here because I saw that…” She blushed and twiddled her fingers, “That you were here.”

Score! “Oh.” A blush crept over my cheeks. “I appreciate that you came.” I smiled at her and grabbed her hand. “Do you want to grab lunch?”

Mari gaped, “Lunch? Me-you?” Her face was redder than Nathaniel's hair.

“Yeah just us two.” I shrugged but felt nervous. What if she said no?

“I would love you-love to! I meant to say love to” She covered her mouth.

“Great let’s go!” I held her hand, and walked fast towards the mall exit. She said she loved me. She said she loved me! “Where did you want to eat?” I turned to look at Marinette who was bright red.

“Um anywhere?” She gripped my hand tightly.

I was almost afraid she would fly away like a scared bird, “So how has the investigation with Alya been?” I asked.

Marinette’s red face lessened, “She cannot shut up about the Peacock miraculous being stolen by that girl or Chat Noir’s new sidekick.”

“Chat Noir has a sidekick?” I gasped in feigned surprise.

“Oh yeah, I guess you’ve been so busy you must have missed the blog interview that Chat gave. I guess Ladybug supports him.”

“Well, it certainly seems dangerous to let a regular guy run around with Ladybug and Chat Noir,” I commented as I tried to play that I didn’t support the action.

“I think it’s a great idea. Who knows he might be the next miraculous holder.” Marinette’s face became animated.

My eye twitched, “That would be great.” I held Mari’s hand a little tighter. “You don’t think he’s better than Chat do you?”

“No, of course not.” She laughed. “Chat is one of a kind.”

I beamed at her admission, “Wow, I never knew you felt that way about him.” Inside I did a victory dance. She liked BOTH sides of me!

“Oh well, he’s not as great as you of course.” Her face turned red. “I mean if you were a superhero you would be way better than Chat Noir.” She pulled at a strand of hair and bit her lip.

“Would I?” I smirked leaning into her.

Mari’s eyes went wide and her ears turned pink. She parted her lips then closed them.

I took us to a deserted part of the sidewalk that would lead us to a couple of cafes. “I was just kidding.” I cupped her face so she had to look me in the eyes.

Her blue eyes sparkled in the sun, “I know, I just think that you're- I mean Adrien I wanted to tell you something.” She fluttered her lashes.

“Anything.” I murmured leaning in further till our noses touched.

“I really like…-Felix?” Mari jumped back from me.

I turned with a glare to see Felix with a bunch un-named bags. “You like Felix?” My fist balled up.

“No, I meant I like…” Mari shook her head, “Never mind it’s not important. What’s he doing out?”

“You knew he was grounded?” I asked surprised.

“Yeah, he texted me about it Monday before his phone was taken.” Mari looked at her phone, “Oh I guess he was buying supplies for his cosplay costume.” She gave me a forced smile. “He messaged me from your laptop.”

I frowned. “You don’t have to help him with it if you don’t want to.” I needed to have a talk with Felix about using my stuff and why he was messaging Mari all the time. She said she loved me and he needs to back off.

“Oh Adrien, it’s fine. Designing something so elaborate is actually a lot of fun. I’ve never designed a military grade suit before.” Mari cupped her hands and shouted,“Felix, what are you doing outside?”

Felix heard, and headed towards us.“So I snuck out to get so stuff. No big deal, besides Gabriel is in a meeting, Natalie and the driver are looking for Adrien, so I just figured I had the perfect opportunity to dig through some stores.”

“What kind of stores?” I asked coldly. “Apparently they're ruining your brother's lunch date stores,” I muttered under my breath.

“I actually met this guy on eBay who sold me all sorts of stuff that were military grade.” He pulled out a grappling hook. “See how cool?”

Marinette punched his arm and glared. Felix slipped it back in the bag. I hated the interaction between them, but I couldn’t understand why. Yeah, I was a little jealous, but that’s normal right? “How did you get that off of eBay?”

“Well there’s the kicker right there, I may have bought it from an arms dealer.” Felix flashed me a nervous smile.

“Marinette, could you give us a moment.” I breathed out slowly.

“I also may have bought a bunch of other stuff from them too like this a bulletproof vest, and some other stuff that I researched from comics and the internet. Everything I bought was a good choice for vigilantism. I made sure to google stuff too. Even emailed a spy.”

“I am so mad at you right now.” I pinched my nose. “Marinette isn’t supposed to know about us doing that stuff!” I threw my arms up. "Do you want her to figure out our secret identities?"

“She doesn’t know, trust me.”

“Just go back to the house. I swear it’s like you're purposely trying to-” I shut my mouth. 

“What?” Felix looked at me confused with his furrowed brow.

“Nothing.” I snapped.

Felix eyed Marinette before turning back to me. “Wait, wait, wait, wait. Are you...are you on a date?”

“We would be if you’d go!” I shoved him the other way down the sidewalk.

“Well, I can’t keep Adrienette fans waiting.” Felix made fake smooching sounds. “Have fun.” He smirked. "Let me know if you need condomns~"

My whole face was red. No one ever told me that brothers were so embarrassing!

“Is everything okay?” Marinette touched my shoulder. Luckily she didn't hear the last part or she would have run away bursting into blushing flames.

“Perfect, let’s go.” I held her hand gently.

She blushed, “So is this a date?” She whispered. “I mean time for a date-No! I mean what’s the date today?” She turned crimson and palmed her face.

“It’s the fifth.” I brushed a strand of hair from her face. I couldn’t pressure her into a date, but Chat Noir could certainly dig up some intel on who she really liked. Tonight would be a great one to visit Marinette, I thought. After our lunch date.

 

**Felix**

 

I should have been happy for Adrien, but I wasn’t. I dreaded the thought of them together. I clenched my fist as I pictured them kissing. “Stop.” I grabbed my head. There were way more important things to deal with besides Adrien and Marinette.

Yet, the closer I got to the house, the more tempted I was to go back there and ruin their date for real.

My stomach tightened into knots as I formed an idea. I got on Adrien’s laptop, after I grappled inside his room, and messaged Chloe.

 

**Adrien**

 

“So how is formal wear coming along?” I smiled as I ran my thumb over the top of her hand.

“Gr-great. Trés bien." Mari stuttered

"Mari, would you like to go-"

 "Adrikins!” No, I wanted to scream as I felt Chloe wrap her arms around me. “Chloe, what are you doing here?” I never wanted to punch a girl before this moment.

“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood.” Chloe turned my face to kiss both cheeks. “I couldn't wait to see my Adrikins. So terrible to hear what happened to your brother.” Chloe sat beside Mari and gave her a shove. “Why don't you tell us all about it?” She pulled out her nail file settling into our booth.

 

**Felix**

I felt like shit for what I did. “God I am the worst brother ever.”

 

 


	14. Felix's Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix finally gets his super suit, and Chat Noir has some moments with Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things take some turns, but Felix's suit is awesome. I'll try and get a friend that can draw to make me a sketch to post. This chapter ties into previous ones, so read carefully. There are Easter eggs that people are missing from the last couple of chapters, but everything will tie together soon \:)
> 
> I'm so glad that I've been getting such great feedback from everyone <3 I'll have to start doing shoutouts. Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter!

**Felix**

Well, Adrien informed that his date Mari might not have gone as planned when he returned. I fought to keep a straight face as he described the Chloe ordeal. Regret twisted in my stomach the entire conversation.

“Chloe wants to meet you.” He grimaced once he finished telling me he had to sneak Marinette out of the kitchen exit just to get away.

“Why?” I sprawled over his sofa. 

“Because you're soooo hot.” he fangirled and pretended to fan himself. “Those were her exact words by the way.”

“I’m not gonna meet her.” I threw a pillow over my face. Could I hide from everything until August? I didn't sign up for all of this.

“The only way Father will let you out early is if you go to the dinner on Friday.” Adrien sighed.

“I do want to get out.” I dreamed about an outing with Marinette. “We could plan a group event for Sunday.”

“That would be fun,” Adrien answered in a strangled tone.

I peered at him from under my pillow. “What?”

“Nothing.” Adrien muttered.

“What?” I asked again frustrated.

“Do you think we could take the girls to the beach?” He blurted out.

“Sure, that sounds like an awesome idea.” I looked at his face and saw the weird look. “Wait, which girls?” I glared. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing."

“Well, I was hoping that you could um distract Chloe for me and this other girl who's a part of our shoot next week so I can have some alone time with…” Blush covered his cheeks, and his green eyes looked dreamily at the floor.

“Fine, but you owe me,” I grunted.

“Really!” Adrien glowed with happiness.

“Yeah, but I need to find someone to add some tech things for my suit.” I gestured to the strangled grappling hook I took apart, but couldn't put back together.

“Oh, my friend Max might be able to help.” Adrien picked it up.

“I want it on the suit if I can manage it.” I made a spiderman web shooting gesture.

“that might break your wrists.” Adrien cringed. “Trust me I know physics.”

I laid back down. “So what do you suggest all wise nerd?”

“You should have just kept the hook as it was.” Adrien shrugged.

“But everything can be improved upon brother- o- mine.” my voice trailed as I thought back to my discovery from earlier. “So Adrien, what are you and Ladybug going to do to Hawk Moth once you catch him?”

“Oh he's going to jail,” Adrien shrugged.

“Oh right.” I laughed nervously. My hands twisted the pillow. What if Gabriel was really the villain? I stared at Adrien as I imagined the horrible scene. My mind imagined, not only Marinette blushing so hard she falls off a roof and nearly dies, but now Gabriel would be taken away to Paris jail. I'd have to shuffle Adrien back and forth from the prison to the hospital. I'd be more of a dad than his brother. I'd have to strip to support us. Although, I guess I could model too...

“Oh, Mari texted me,” Adrien announced with a triumphant smile.

“Well, I’ll leave you alone to shower with your phone.” I grinned.

Adrien gave me a confused look as I snickered out the door. I was proud of Mari for not sharing our inside joke. I pictured her blush dusted cheeks flustered over the joke I had originally told her when I got her ready for clubbing. I wished she'd be flustered over me. “Maybe one day,” I whispered once I shut my bedroom door. I shut my eyes and filled with self-loathing. Marinette and Adrien were supposed to be together. Not Felix and Marinette.

 

The next two days passed with sweet anticipation for one my freedom, and my suit was going to be done on the same day I would gain back my freedom! I messaged Marinette from Adrien’s laptop both Wednesday and Thursday. Mari sent me an outline sketch, but wouldn’t show me the finished product.

_“Just wait till Friday night.”_

_“I can’t! I’m too excited. Not about the dinner with Chloe :(.”_

_“Ugh, her again (-_-+)”_

_“Save me Mari! I need Ladybug.”_

_“I’ll save you Tiger ;)”_

_“You’re my hero Ladybug :D”_ I smiled at the messages. I realized how upset Adrien would be if he found them on his laptop that I stole from his room while he was in the shower. _“I better return this laptop before Adrien’s ‘shower’ time ends.”_

_“Stop that! He does not..he doesn’t do that stuff!”_

_“Everyone masturbates even me ;).”_ I grew red at the thought of Mari doing...that. My heart pounded as I pictured her late at night; she’d bit her lip and reach down beneath her cute Ladybug shorts- “Nope!” I slammed the laptop shut. “Not today Felix.” I announced to my empty room.

“What’s not today Felix?” Plagg flew through the door.

“Nothing!” I stood up from the bed with Adrien’s laptop over my crotch.

“You’re acting...weird. Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the dinner tonight?” Plagg eyed me in my basketball shorts wearing nothing else on.

“I can’t go like this?” I joked. I felt exposed after my... fantasizing of Mari.

“You’re hiding something.” Plagg flew close to my face.

“I am nothing but an open book.” I swatted him away. Why couldn’t Adrien have been Ladybug? The image of Marinette in a tight leather cat costume made everything, me, hard. “Fuck.” I banged my head against my door. I was not about to turn this love square into a love...hexagon!

 

Dinner was terrible. The minute I met Chloe, I knew why Mari hated her.

“Felix and Adrikins!” Chloe called in a nasally voice. “I’ll call you Felixakins.” Chloe wrapped a slender arm around Felix.

“Fantastic.” I scowled.

“Adrihoney, why don’t you go ahead so I can talk to Felix.” Chloe kissed his cheek.

“Of course Chloe,” Adrien smirked and walked away with Gabriel.

I sighed, “What did you want to talk with me about? Your outfit?”

“I’m glad you like my new dress, but I wanted to thank you for messaging me the other day. Mari always puts herself in a place she doesn’t belong. I’m glad you helped me stop this tragic mishap from happening.” Her blue eyes glittered.

My stomach knotted. “That wasn’t what-”

She held a single slender finger to my mouth, “Don’t worry. You can have Marinette, but I want Adrien.”

“Look, what I did was awful.” It really was an awful thing to do. “But, I want Adrien to be happy with whoever that may be.”

“Even if it’s the girl you like?” Chloe raised a slim brow.

“Yes. I won’t ruin my relationship with Adrien over…” A beautiful, clumsy heroine. “Marinette.” Gabriel's voice echoed in my head, Is she what you two have been fighting over?

“Well, you’re awfully heroic and stupid.” She flipped her blonde hair in my face.

“I guess I am.”

The dinner passed horribly slow. I couldn’t stand the way Chloe laughed, how she threw herself over Adrien and me, but the food was really good.

Finally, the dinner concluded, and Adrien and I were free!

“I’m gonna get my suit, I’m gonna get my suit.” I danced. I moonwalked across the hall. “I’m going out tonight with you Chat.” I winked at Adrien.

“Just two tomcats on the town,” Adrien smirked.

“I love my costume.”

“You haven’t even seen it yet.”

“Yeah, but Mari designed it so it’s going to be amazing!” I spun. “I wonder if this is how girls feel on prom night?” I mused.

“You’d make for one ugly girl.” Adrien snickered.

“I make for a fantastic Sailor Moon thank you very much.” I whipped my hair.

“More like Alois Trancy.”

I gasped, “Adrien, that’s terrible.” I hated Alois Trancy from Black Butler.

“It’s true.”

“Moon tiara magic!” I threw a trash can lid at him.

“Hey!” Adrien huffed but dodged the lid with ease.

“Come on, do you’re sailor scout transformation so I can get my suit.” I jumped in the air onto a garbage bin. I put my hands on my hips then made a Sailor Moon hand gesture, “I am the guardian of love and justice, and in the name of the moon I order you to transform!”

Adrien chuckled, “Alright Sailor Felix. Plagg claws out!” Adrien was enveloped in a bright green light. The light dissipated and Adrien stood as Chat Noir.

“You ready meow?” I asked him.

“I thought you didn’t enjoy my cat puns.” Adrien wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Whoa, feline frisky?”

“That’s claw-ful Felix.” Adrien took his staff to project us onto the rooftop. "I knew the cat puns would grow on you."

We didn’t have to run long before we reached Mari’s place. “Sit here, and I’ll be back in a second.” I jumped onto her balcony.

“Why can’t I go in?” Adrien whined.

“Because-” If she sees us together, she might figure out your secret, “I’ll only be a second.” I knocked on the trap door.

“Come in!” Mari called.

I entered and saw my suit on a hanger. “It’s perfect.” I hugged it. It felt a little bulky due to the bulletproof vest sewed inside, but I could live with it.

“Go try it on.” Mari turned her back.

“You want me to um change right here?” I blushed. I normally was never shy about getting naked.

“Yeah, I’ll just turn around.”

“You can watch if it suits you.” Fuck, I bit my tongue and took off my shirt.

“Felix, you’re-” Mari’s face gaped.

“What?” I reached for my pants.

Mari spun around, “Nothing!” She squeaked.

“Okay?” I took off my pants with a fluid motion. I stood in only my black briefs, and I had the feeling that Mari had checked out my butt. I struggled with the suit pants. I had to do the jump to get them on, but they went on fine once I got them past my thighs. “It’s okay to look now?” I asked once the black legging material was on.

“Okay.” Mari squeaked again and turned to look at me shirtless. Her face glowed red. She was kind of like Rodulf the red nose reindeer. Ladybug the permanently redfaced girl.

I didn’t say that. I pulled on the onsie of the suit that reminded me of Gwen Stacy’s. “Hey what was the inspiration for this?” I asked as I struggled with the legs again.

“Oh well Alya showed me one of her favorite comics, and I thought I could make into a cool costume for you.” She twiddled her thumbs but glanced at my abs every now and again.

“Well, it’s sick.” I pulled the rest of the suit on, once it was over my butt, easily. It was mostly black with a white striped hood and had white stripes down the arm. Six white jagged stripes covered my abs that evened out the bulky chest area that the bulletproof vest created. “I look awesome.” I placed the blue mask on and pulled up the striped hood that had two cat ears. “I love it, Mari!" I hugged her tightly. Her strawberry shampoo scented hair tickled my nose.

“You really like it?” Mari blushed.

I held her to my chest, “Well, of course, you made it.”

Her ears turned pink, “Thanks, Felix.” Her blue eyes went all dreamy, and I almost leaned down to where her pink lips puckered.

“I better go for now.” I dropped my arms.

“Yea-yeah. Let me know about any changes you want to make.” She gave me a little wave.

I slid out the trap door in a very cat-like manner. “Here.”

Adrien jumped down from the roof. “Took long enough.”

“I was five minutes.” I grabbed Adrien’s hand as he plunged forward us to the roof next door.

“You take West, I’ll take East.” Adrien thumbed back towards Marinette’s.

“Sounds good!” I ran west over rooftops. My suit felt awesome even if it lacked all the features I wanted. “I’m a real hero now!”

 

**Adrien**

 

I should be more mature. I shouldn’t be jealous. “He’s emotional just like his mother.”Father’s voice rang in my head. “I guess he’s right, I am emotional.” I jumped down on Mari’s balcony. I tapped on her door.

“Chat?” Mari stepped out of the door. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to thank you for my sidekick's costume.” I pulled a flower from the vine again and placed it behind her ear.

“I thought it was for Felix’s cosplay?”

“It wasn’t.” I brushed a strand of her hair. “I just wanted to tell you before you saw your work on the news.” I rubbed my thumb against her cheek.

“You’re acting awfully funny Chaton.” Mari bopped my nose.

“So how is prince hunting?” I leaned against her railing.

“Prince hunting?” Mari snorted.

“I heard you had a date the other day?” I edged towards her.

“Did Felix tell you that!” She covered her face. Her flustered expression tugged at my heart, was it possible for someone to be this adorable?

“He mentioned it.”

“I might have.” She blushed. “But, it’s too soon to tell yet how he feels.” She pulled the flower from her hair to hold it.

“Oh?”

“Well, I just want to take it slow. I-I don’t want to mess anything up?” She plucked a petal.

“You could never mess anything up Princess.”

“You’re too kind Kitty.” She flicked my bell. “Shouldn’t you go after your sidekick?”

“I probably should.” My turn to blush.

“Keep him safe Kitty.” She kissed my cheek. “He means a lot to me.” With that, Mari headed back inside.

I touched my cheek that she kissed longingly. Next time, I told myself, it would be a real kiss.

 

**Felix**

 

“Well look at Kitty tonight.” Peacock jumped down from her perch. “Did you dress up just to meet me?” She flicked her fan.

“Oh you know I did Birdie.” I moved my feet to dodge her sharp feathers. “I guess you’re enamored from our last fight pretty bird.” I flipped back to dodge more knife-like feathers.

“Oh, our fight from last time lead me to some wonderful realizations.” A cruel smile spread across her face. “Felix, I have missed you.”

My eyes widened and my mouth gaped open. I dodged another flight of feathers. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to imitate Batman's voice of dismissal. It didn't work.

“Oh but I do Felix.” She moved closer to me. “And I look forward to meeting you out of costume very soon.” She swayed her hips. “Oh, and Hawk Moth says he looks forward to meeting you as well.” She pulled me to her. “He has something he wishes to discuss with you.” She trailed her fingertips over my chest. “I hope you consider so I don’t have to kill you.” She pressed her lips over my ear. “It would be a shame to kill someone as handsome as you Felix Finch.”

“What does he want with me?” I asked unmovingly. I let her touch me, but I needed to get information out of her.

“You’ll know when the time is right.” She purred into my ear. “You know I thought more about your offer from the other week.” She seductively whispered.

“I made you a lot of offers, unfortunately, you tried to stab me.” I murmured into her ear. “I’m not sure I’m in the mood any more pretty bird.” I nibbled at her earlobe.

I heard her gasp, “Do you want me to put you in the mood?” She yanked my hoodie down to grab a fistful of my hair.

“I might if you tell me more.” I hovered my lips over her full pink ones.

“Oh, you’re a sly Kitten.” She breathed on my neck.

I grabbed her hair and tilted her back, “A kiss for information birdie.” I ran my lips over her cheeks, “I promise you it’ll be worth it.”

“He wants you to join the team.” She curved her body against mine.

I felt her press herself against my crotch, “Why would I do that?” I hovered over her lips.

“I held up my end, now it’s time for yours.” She grabbed my shoulders.

I pressed my lips against hers, and she tasted sweet. I nibbled on her bottom lip before I broke the kiss when I heard her moan. “I think that’s enough for now.” I heard footsteps headed our way. “Better fly pretty bird unless you want Chat to catch you.” I backed away from her.

Her flushed face smiled, “Next time Tiger.” She winked and ran away.

“Hey did anything happen?” Adrien landed beside me.

“Oh, you aren’t going to believe it when I tell you.”  

 


	15. Felix and Adrien Go to the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang takes a trip to the beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically Chloe ruins everything. 
> 
> This is just a fun chapter! :) 
> 
> Thanks for all the support <3

**Felix**

I gleaned over the details but owned up to the kiss. “It was for information!”

“Hawk Moth and Peacock know who you are.” Adrien paced.

I never had the courage to tell him about the whole Gabriel might be Hawk Moth situation. I wasn't even sure he was Hawk Moth, so nothing to worry about...yet.

 

Saturday came and went with nothing important happening. Finally, it was early Sunday morning.

“Felix!”

“Mmm.” I pulled the pillow over my head unable to muster up any excitement from the day before.

“Get up!” Adrien yanked me out of bed by my ankle hard. “Come on, we only have 10 minutes to get out the door.”

I sat up from the floor, “Can I sleep on the train?”

Adrien didn’t answer but threw a beach bag at my face.

I failed to catch it, “We’re not going to have spinach shakes.” I lumbered after Adrien half asleep when I threw on my shoes and a t-shirt. “Why is it so early? The sun isn’t even up.” I groaned. My head hurt and it was still dark out. Gabriel didn't even bother seeing us out the door. That's how early it was.

We had Gorilla drop us off at Marinette’s where her parents sent us packing with muffins and croissants to the train station. If I had been more awake, I would have appreciated how cute she looked in her pink shorts, white t-shirt, and her messy bun. The train station was a twenty-minute drive with little traffic. A very sleepy Alya, Nino, and Chloe stood by a sign for Marseille.

“Remind me again why I agreed to get up this early?” Alya yawned leaning again Nino perfectly matching my level of energy at the moment.

“Because everyone wants to see us shirtless.” I murmured as I leaned myself against Adrien sleepily.

Adrien let me lean on him even though I was way taller. “It’ll be worth it.” Adrien chirped ecstatic. “I’ve never gone to the beach with friends before.” He turned to a wide-awake Marinette, “I’m glad we’re both awake.”

I didn't even bother looking at Marinette who I already knew was blushing like a tomato, “Ye-yeah it should be a lot of fun.”

Luckily Chloe was too tired to interfere. I sighed when I remembered my promise to Adrien to distract her and some other girl that we would have a shoot with on Monday. At least she’ll be hot, I thought. Hopefully.

“Sorry, I'm late.” A girl with a brilliant figure sauntered towards us. Her long, vivid red hair swayed as she moved her hips. Her hair reminded me of two girls I've interacted with since I first arrived in Paris. I stared at her hair and recalled the hot Chat Noir from the expo and Peacock. I remembered Peacock’s words from Friday night about meeting her in civilian form, but that didn't mean this girl was her. She hardly seemed evil wearing cute high waisted beige shorts and a flowy white off the shoulder crop top with blue bikini strings that clung to her slim shoulders. 

“It's fine. The train just pulled in.” Adrien shoved me forward.

“Felix Finch, nice to meet you.” I stuck my hand out.

“Oh, I believe we’ve met before.” She said innocently. She flustered dark lashes that made her bright green eyes twinkle with mischief. “We met at the expo, Abigail Nikolaevich.”

Why couldn't things just be easy for me? “Oh yes, how silly of me to forget,” I answered unsure of how to react. My intuition, unfortunately, had been right. That meant this hottie was evil.

“Let's board the train.” She wrapped a slender arm around mine. “I liked the morning snap from Adrien of you in bed this morning. You looked precious cuddling you pillow.”

We passed an obviously jealous Chloe, but Mari observed us with just a slight pout on her lips.

“Why are you here?” I hissed when out of earshot from the rest of the group.

“Adrien invited me.” She slid into the brown leather seat. She tapped the seat beside her, and I knew I wouldn't have a choice. “I thought you would have been happier to see me out of costume.” she moved her hand to my thigh.

“I would be if I wasn't awake at 5:30 in the morning.” And if you weren't working with Hawk Moth, I added mentally.

“Poor kitten, were you up late looking for me last night?” she pulled my face close to hers.

“Maybe.” I actually watched too much anime and had another Marinette nightmare. Not like I'd admit that to her.  “I'm going to sleep pretty bird, this kitten is tired.” I leaned myself back against the seat. My mind drifted until I was back in my room. My real bedroom with Marinette sitting on top of it.

“Felix, don't you want to join me?” she pulled down the straps of her Cami.

“Yes, but Adrien.” I moved closer.

“But, I don't love him, I love you.” She wrapped her legs around my waist. “Aren't you going to show me a good time kitten?”

Lips on my ear jerked me from sleep, “Aren't you going to show me a good time kitten?” Abigail's voice whispered.

“Mmm, are we there yet?” I leaned against her not caring if she was evil. Her boobs were soft and made for a nice pillow.

“Another hour.” She played with my hair.

“Okay.” I yawned and laid my head on her shoulder. Her fingers soothed me, so I fell back asleep until I felt the train jerk beneath me.

 

**Adrien**

 

My plan to keep Chloe and Abigail busy worked perfectly. I had Mari all to myself the who train ride.

“Weren’t you two just the cutest.” I heard Alya whisper to Mari. “I got a cute picture of you two sleeping.”

Mari grabbed the phone, and I peeked over her head. The photo showed Mari had buried her head in the crook of my neck, and I leaned my head on the top of hers.

“Alya!” She hissed.

“I like it.” I shrugged. “I think it should be apart of our adventure album.”

“Oh, an adventure album!” Alya slapped Nino’s chest. “That’s a fantastic idea isn’t it babe?”

“Oh yeah, just the best idea.” He rubbed his chest. “Why do you beat me in public?”

“Oh don’t be such a baby.” Alya kissed his cheek.

Nino smiled at her, and I turned to Marinette who stared down at the photo of us. One day we would be the cute couple, I told myself. I remembered our conversation from last night about taking this slow. You can do this Agreste, I pumped myself up.

“Well, we’re here.” My voice cracked. “Do you need me to carry your bag Marinette?”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” She blurted out.

I took the bag from her anyway. “It would be my pleasure.” I swung her pink floral drawstring tote over my left shoulder. I glanced ahead to see Felix with Chloe and Abigail had taken each arm of his captive. I should feel guilty, but when I couldn’t muster any guilt when I glanced at my right side to see Mari blush at me. “So Alya, Mari was telling me about your investigation.” I stepped off the train and offered my hand to Mari. She turned red but grasped it. Total gentleman was the goal for today. I would sweep her off her feet.

“She didn’t tell you all about the Peacock, did she?” Alya threw her bag on Nino as she pulled out her phone. “Look, I found a picture of the original Peacock miraculous holder!” She shoved the phone in my face.

I already knew it was my mom from my conversation with Master Fu, “Oh she looks completely different from the new Peacock.” I stared into my mom’s green eyes.

“That’s the weird thing! I just can’t figure it out why she would be so different from the original Peacock besides the whole evil theory.”

I knew the answer, “Who knows?” The new Peacock didn’t have the real Peacock miraculous. Hawk Moth was using his magical powers to force the kwami into something that wasn’t a real miraculous when he needed his evil bird. I wondered why someone would join him. What could Hawk Moth offer?

We finally found a good spot to set down our beach site. “How is it going?” I asked Felix when I gave him a friendly shoulder bump.

“Just peachy. I’ll fill you in later.” He whispered in a serious tone. I followed his gaze on Abigail who pulled out her blue beach chair from her blue drawstring bag. Felix’s gaze wasn’t pervy, which was weird enough, he stared at her wearily like she might attack him.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, but I can handle it.” He sauntered off to his doom towards Chloe, who jumped around his neck.

I cringed as I thought I heard a snap, but Felix just grunted in annoyance and set her on the sand.

“Who wants to go play some volleyball?” Alya held a beach ball on her hips. “Hurry up Mari!”

Marinette finally pulled her shorts and tee-shirt off to reveal a red spotted bikini. “I’m coming Alya!”

I forced myself not to stare. “Take it slow.” I breathed. I could do this. I could take it slow. I was a gentleman after all.

My ego instantly deflated as I heard, “Look how hot he is!” From a random group of girls pointing at a shirtless Felix. His light hair gleamed in the sun, and maybe if he wasn't so pale he could have been a beach bum. He easily had the best body on the beach. He smiled at them and gave a small wave as he backed away slowly towards the volleyball court to the right. 

I glared at the girls and followed Marinette to the court. “He better not distract her,” I muttered under my breath. Alya split us into two teams: Felix, Chloe, and Abigail were one team and Marinette, Alya, Nino, and I were the other. 

“It’s on pretty boy!” Alya served first.

Felix smirked, “Is it?” He jumped and smacked the ball straight into the sand in front of her. Great, another thing he was good at.

“Oh, he’s good,” Alya muttered with a look of determination.

I glanced to my left and saw Marinette had her eyes glued to him. My fists balled up, and I knew I had to impress her too. I took my defensive stance in the sand and glared at Felix. “It’s on.”

 

**Felix**

 

Adrien glared at me for whatever reason. I loved the beach, but today there was a bunch of random girls who drooled at me with their phones out. They weren’t even attractive! Not to mention they looked twelve. Why couldn't they have hot sisters or moms?   
Chloe got super jealous from this, started to claw my arm, while Abigail got annoyed and proceeded to do the same just to make Chloe even madder on purpose! “Why is this happening to me today?” I whispered as I slammed the volleyball down into the sand. All I tried to be was a good brother by sacrificing my own happiness just so Adrien could have his dumb date!

“I got this!” Adrien spiked the ball at me, and I bounced it back only to have him hit it right on my face. “Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to do that.” Adrien’s eyes looked watery.

“I’m going to take a break, come on.” I dragged Adrien off the field. I lead us far enough away so no one, especially Chloe, would hear us. “What is your issue today? I'm here, I'm distracting the other girls just so you can have your date and you're acting like this?"

“I didn’t mean to smack you in the face I-I-” His green eyes shimmered.

I grimaced, “It’s fine. Seriously all of this is really unlike you, what’s the problem? Are you not feeling well?”

“I just wanted to impress Marinette, but you had her staring at you and all the other girls and-” Adrien blurted out.

I blushed, “I’m already dealing with Chloe and Abigail. What else am I supposed to do?”

Adrien flashed a guilty look, “You could take them for a walk down the beach.”

I stomped my foot, “No way! Both are going to get the wrong idea and tear me apart!” I wanted to distract Mari some more anyway.

“Please?” Adrien’s big green eyes watered.

“That’s not going to work.” I crossed my arms and turned.

“Please!” Adrien begged. “I’ll get you the keys to the Lamborghini from Father.”

Damn, that was good, “Yeah right.” I bit my lip. I really wanted to drive that car. “You don’t even know about the rising garage,” I muttered.

“Yeah, there’s a door that leads to it in the front room. That one by the stairs.”

So he doesn’t know about the secret Adam West Batman stripper pole behind the bookcase, “That doesn’t explain how you would get the keys.”

“I’ll come up with a plan.” He grabbed my arm, “Please!” He begged again.

“Fine.” I sighed. I couldn’t stand his watery green eyes anymore. I lead us back to the volleyball area. “Abigail, Chloe would you like to go for a walk after the game?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“I would love to Felixkins.” Chloe jumped on my left arm. “There’s no room for you though.” Chloe turned my body away from the court.

“Oh look, Chloe, Felix has a whole other arm just for me.” Abigail grabbed my right with a sneer.

Chloe sneered back, “Let’s go Felix.” She jerked me to the left.

"No, let's go this way, Felix." Abigail pulled me to the right.

Just like that, I was tugged down the beach before the game even ended!

 

**Adrien**

 

I grinned as I saw Chloe and Abigail lead Felix away. I played the younger brother card dirty, but now Marinette and I would be a team. “Why don’t Marinette and I verse you and Alya.” I winked at Nino.

“That would be a great idea.” He smirked. “Come on babe, let’s wipe the sand with them.”

“Oh, you both are going down!” Marinette puffed up her chest.

I smiled at how cute she was when she acted so competitively. “I’ll serve first.”

 

Marinette and I won the game, “Good job!” I held my fist out to her.

“B-bein...” She blushed.

I smiled at her flushed face, “Maybe we should get some shade. I wouldn’t want you to get a sunburn.”

“Ye-yeah.” She took a step towards me but tripped.

“Careful.” I caught her as she thudded against my chest. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great!” She blushed so hard her ears turned red.

“Why don’t I help you just to make sure.” I accompanied her back to the campsite. “You can hold my hand if it helps.”

Her eyes went wide, “I-I wouldn’t want to impose..”

“It’s no problem at all.” I winked.

Marinette went red all over, yet remained quiet. She placed her hand on top of mine with clear hesitation. Easy now, I told myself as I moved her fingers between mine. Perfect gentleman.

“Ship has sailed.” I heard Alya whisper to Nino.

This summer I was going to get my first girlfriend.

 

**Felix**

 

“You may be some model, but I’m a Bourgeois.” She stuck her nose in the air.

Abigail snorted, “And I’m a Vogue featured model who works all over the world and will be in Victoria’s Secret Fashion show this December.”

“Who cares? That’s a tacky brand anyway! I only wear real designer.” Chloe flipped her hair. “He’s coming with me, are you Felixikins?” Chloe yanked my arm.

“No, he’s going swimming with me.” Abigail yanked my other arm.

“How about we go swimming and then get ice cream?” I asked in a strangled tone. Jesus, please save me, I prayed. My main man, please intercept and deliver me from the valley of evil.

“That’s Felix Agreste!” A group of five young girls screamed.

“Oh shit.” I backed away from them. I knew middle girl school girls were straight up savages when it came to celebrities, and remembered in horror my first date. I took some girl named Sarah to a Justin Bieber concert in my first year of middle school, which turned out to be the worst mistake of my entire existence. The concert sucked, and fangirls, I found out, were terrible creatures who tore each other apart just for some guy.

“Can we have a picture?” I jumped as another group of older, yet only meh kind of girls approached me with fangirl faces.

“We saw him first!” A middle school girl shouted.

I felt like I was in Jurassic Park with raptors crouched around me. They looked for weaknesses before they pounced to tear me to pieces. So I did the unmanly thing-I ran away.

“Come back!” They all shouted.

I ran as fast as I could towards the ocean and swam out as far as I could. “Jesus, that is not what I meant.” I floated on my back. I heard splashing heading towards me and I knew it wouldn't be Chloe. She couldn't risk ruining her hair.

“Hey.” Abigail floated beside me.

I shut my eyes against the summer sun. “Hey.”

“I get the feeling like you're having a shitty time today.” 

“How could you tell?” I felt the waves lift me up and down.

“Because I am in an extremely sexy bikini, yet all you’ve been doing is leading us away from Adrien’s friends.” I heard the water as she swished it.

“Yeah, guess I’m just tired.”

“Please, you’re not enjoying yourself because Adrien asked you to keep that brat busy.”

“Yeah, yeah he did,” I answered sadly.

“Well, that’s not fair to you! Are you seriously going to put up with that?” She pulled me to her.

I rotated myself into the water so I could face her, “It’s complicated.”

“How is it complicated? He’s totally taking advantage of you.”

“It’s what brothers do.” I shrugged. “I always wanted a brother, and now I have one. I know what he’s doing, but I just…” I stared at the clear blue water. “I just want him to be happy.” The water reminded me of Marinette’s eyes.

“But, you’re not happy.” She moved my face to hers.

“That’s funny coming from the girl who stabbed me last week. I still have stitches you know.”

“I should say I’m sorry, but you were the one who egged me on.”

She looked like a real-life Ariel with her long hair splayed around the water, “You made it too easy.”

“I guess I’ll have to play hard to get then.” She dove under the water.

Soon after I felt myself get dragged under, and I saw her. We were all alone in the crystal blue water with her red hair floating around us. She mouthed something to me that I couldn’t understand, but I knew what she wanted. I pulled her towards me, and pressed my lips to hers. I felt her kick in vain to keep us under the water as I kept pressing my lips to her. I broke the kiss as we bobbed to the surface. “How was that?” I asked after a big breath. My eyes stung from the salt that I had to wipe away on the back of my hands.

“Good, but I think it could be better.” She winked.

It was then that she had my attention, “Oh really now?” I swam close to her. Her green eyes and creamy skin beneath me filled my mind.

“You guys are taking forever!” Chloe paddled towards us. “I had to sacrifice my hair to come get you.”

Abigail bared her teeth at Chloe. “Oh, we’ll head back with you. Are all those girls gone?” I had to stop Abigail from drowning her. Land would probably be the best place for that.

“No, they’re just hanging out with some college douches that showed up. Only two of them are acceptable, but the girls they brought think they’re so special.” She hit the water. “Just because some douchey frat boy sings Wonderwall to you, they think they’re all that.”

“They started singing Wonderwall?” Douche with a guitar 101, I grinned. “This is gonna be good.”

“What are you going to do? Steal his guitar?” Chloe flipped her hair as we stepped out of the ocean.

“I was thinking that.” I stared at Abigail all wet with her red hair longingly. “Wanna see me give wonder wall a run for his money with another 80s song?” I elbowed her grinning.

“You know 80s songs?”

“My mom’s favorite.” I rolled my eyes. “I know exactly how to beat him.”

“Who said it was a contest?” She squeezed water out of her hair.

“Whenever some douche shows up on a beach with a bunch of guys and a guitar, it is a competition.” I flexed.

“You go ahead and embarrass yourself.” Abigail waved me forward.

I stepped forward to a group of extremely douchey guys, and of course, the wannabe musician was serenading some pretty hot chick.

“Wow, look at him.” The short girl of the group giggled.

“Hey, do you mind if we join you?”

“Maybe.” A tall brunette chick in a yellow bikini sized me up. “You look really familiar.”

“I was featured in the July issue of Vogue that released last week.”

The whole group went quiet except for a hot blonde, “You’re Felix Agreste!”

“The one and only.” I winked. “I actually heard that you guys were playing your own music, and I wanted to know if I could join.” I eyed the scrawny moppy-haired brunette guy with the guitar.

The hot blonde practically grabbed the guitar out of his hands, “Play me something.”

“Well since I heard wonder wall was being played, I figured I should go with another classic.” I winked at her. I saw the moppy-haired guy glare. I hated that dumb song with a passion, but my mom loved it. She also loved the Goo Goo Dolls. I tuned the guitar, and started to strum, “And I’d give up forever to touch you, ‘Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be, and I don’t wanna go home right now.” God this was so cliche, I thought.

 

**Adrien**

 

“Hey, I hear someone singing.” Alya led us to a big group of mostly girls.

I knew that voice. I peered through a group of girls that gaped at him with their phones out to record his actually good singing. 

“Damn he’s good.” I clenched my fist. I couldn't sing, and now I find out Felix could? He could play guitar too!

“Dude, your brother is actually good. I didn’t know he could even play.”

“Nino, not helping.” I hissed. “I didn’t know he could play either.” Felix was a dork, but he could be smooth when he needed to be. Felix may have had the upper hand, but I had Marinette without his interruptions this time. “Mari, do you want to dance?”

She blushed with a nod.

 

**Felix**

I played a couple more cheesy songs that I knew while I watched Adrien dance with Marinette. My stomach clenched the whole time in anguish. I wanted him to be happy, that’s what good brothers do.

  
We stayed at the beach till four then had a long train ride back to Paris. I sat with Abigail who slept on my shoulder this time. I stroked her hair when she stirred throughout the ride back while I read my mystery novel. The first sentence of the book, “I would be stupid to fall in love with her.” I smiled to myself because it was too late for that piece of advice. “I’m an idiot.”


	16. Felix's Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix promises to take Abigail to the summer gala to Adrien's dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fun chapter before it gets serious.
> 
> p.s. Reminder: Iris is the name of Felix's mom, and the name of a popular 80s song.

  **Felix**

The next day my whole world turned upside down literally. Gabriel yanked me out of bed, “Get up young man! This shoot will determine if you will be apart of  Nikolaevich's perfume campaign.”

“Ugh,” I grunted from the floor.

“I’m serious. You have ten minutes to get downstairs or else.”

“Or else?” I pulled myself to sit up on my elbows still too tired to move. Gabriel made a lot of empty threats, so I laid my head back down on the floor. 

“I’ll tell you something that will scar you for the rest of your life.” He smirked as he headed to the door.

“Yeah right." I yawned ready to curl up on my hands.

“One last chance.”

“Can’t move, too tired.”

“You know I saw a nice little video of you at the beach yesterday playing the song you were conceived under.”

“Wh-what.” I sat up horrified. No, no, no this couldn’t be.

“In fact, it was the song I played for you mom every time.” He leaned in the doorway as he emphasized every. “I warned you.”

“My mom?” No, that couldn’t be. Iris was my mom’s name and one of her favorite songs, was Gabriel the reason she played it? “Oh god!” I covered my mouth as I felt bile in my throat.

“Told you, now get downstairs.”

“My life is over.” I laid back on the floor in the fetal position.

“Oh please, grow up.” Gabriel waved me off. “It will be the same thing you scar your future children with when they’re being difficult”

I shuddered at the disgust of Gabriel with my mother. Gabriel inside my mom, “Why?” I cried to the ceiling. “I will never recover.”

 

I told Adrien about what happened, who in turn laughed so hard milk came out of his nose. “It’s not fucking funny.”

“Oh my god Felix, it totally is.” Adrien continued to laugh so hard he fell off his chair. “I-I can’t believe that fa-father said that.” He rolled on the floor. “Ow, my ribs hurt from laughing so hard.” He finally sat up after what felt like an hour of him just-just laughing at this horrible life realization!

“I hate you so much right now.” I shoved him back on the floor with my foot.

“I didn’t even know father could be so….”

“Horrible?”

“Savage.” Adrien started to laugh again.

“Would you fucking stop!” I snapped.

“I can’t-” He grabbed his left side. “I think I pulled a muscle.”

“Serves you right asshole.” I kicked him in the arm.

 

The drive to the shoot sucked, but not as hard when we actually arrived. The same rude guy from the first shoot greeted us then split us apart. He favored Adrien more, but still said I “had a lot of potential.” I rolled my eyes at the guy, what a stuck up jerk.

“Are you ready kitten?” Abigail sauntered over when I emerged from my time with the beautician.

“Tired. Ready to get this over with.” I watched her with interest. Nothing about her screamed bad guy. There's gotta be some hidden motive there. Why would this seventeen-year-old hottie just wake up one day and go hey, I'm gonna join Hawk Moth?

“I’m sure you’ll get the part. My uncle wanted to put Adrien in the shoot with me, but I thought you’d be a much better fit.” She placed her arms around my neck.

“I’m flattered.” Her connection to Hawk Moth haunted my mind. How could this super hot chick be teamed up with Paris’s supervillain who might be Gabriel?

“You should, if this shoot goes well then we’ll have a commercial next week.”

“A commercial?” I groaned. “I don’t want to be in a commercial.”

“It’ll be a commercial with me, and we’ll be underwater.” She fluttered her eyelashes, “I gave uncle the inspiration from our time at the beach yesterday.”

“Oh, that sounds like it would be complicated. I don’t think I could do it.” I cringed. "I'd rather just stay home."

“From what I saw yesterday, I think you can.” She ran a finger down my spine.

Normally I would be super turned on from this amazingly hot girl, but I knew she was bad news. I recalled Teen Titans with Terra, and Abigail was definitely Terra. I wasn't about to be Beast Boy.

“Come on, places everyone!” The bossy guy returned with Adrien in tow. 

“What are we supposed to do?” I asked Adrien confused as to why he was dressed in a white shirt button down shirt and jeans. “How is this fashion?”

“I’m doing a different perfume shoot than you? Didn’t he tell you anything?”

“No, the guy dislikes me for some reason.” I was dressed up more than Adrien in a slim navy button down, black blazer, black skinny jeans accented with a brown belt and dress shoes. "I wanna wear jeans. Trade with me."

“He’s just like that.” Adrien shrugged, "No way. You're supposed to kiss Abigail in the commercial and I'm not doing that."

“Can’t you just be in the shoot with me? You know I don’t like this.” I attempted to mess with my hair until the cameraman glared. I slammed my arm back to my side.

Adrien made a face, “You like the bragging rights though.”

“When it suits me,” I said before I was shoved forward towards a different set.

Abigail stood under a spotlight in a silver dress that had an extremely low cut back. Her blood red hair waved and rested past her shoulder blades. She looked like my childhood fantasy of Ariel only with bigger breast. “Are you ready?”

I wanted to be ready, I wanted to be able to like Abigail more than Marinette, I wanted to say I that I could change her, but life isn’t a fairy tale. “For the most part.” I felt stiff, and not in the fun way. How could I model for this stupid perfume ad when I knew who she really worked for? How could I knowingly go from Robin to Beast Boy running headfirst towards a broken heart?

“Give me a taste of coy sexy.” The cameraman announced.

“What the fuck is that supposed to me?” My heart pounded as I felt like everyone’s eyes were on me. My palms felt clammy. My knees started to shake and I remembered that I was adverse to pressure. Not good. This is why I had like one friend.

“You can be the coy one if you want. I think that’s cute.” Abigail pressed herself against me. She grabbed the back of my hair and gazed into my eyes. “You were never shy before.” She pressed herself into the crook of my neck.

“No! He needs to be the lead.” The cameraman shouted.

“That’s sexist. If I want to be the lead, then I should be.” She pressed me to her chest protectively.

“We’ll take pictures both ways to decide which way is better.” The cameraman grunted.

“But, a female lead is original.” She argued back.

Her breasts pressed against me… “I can take the lead.” Come on Felix act, I scolded myself. I stared into her green eyes and kissed her.

“That’s not coy!” The cameraman shouted.

“Sorry.” I smiled sheepishly. I wasn’t really sorry, and now I could focus. I grabbed Abigail’s waist, “I’m ready now.” I grinned hungrily.

 

**Adrien**

 

My shoot went fast, although it helped to be the only one in the shoot, so I wandered over to Felix’s. I watched them work and wondered if that was how things like sex really happened? I doubted that Marinette would have liked anything Felix was insinuating with his poses. I had a feeling she'd freak out and turn into a puddle on the floor.

I sighed and decided to ask Felix about it later. I flipped open my phone and texted _Nino, What do girls like?_

His response, _Are you asking me to ask Alya what Marinette likes?_

_Can we plan a bro day? I really need to talk to you._

_Uh, I guess dude, but your brother has way more experience in the lady department than me. I’ve only ever had a crush on Marinette and Alya._

_“Oh, that’s right,”_ I muttered. I frowned at the idea of asking Felix’s guidance on women. What if he told me something that made Marinette mad at me, I panicked. What if he convinced me to do something that never made her want to talk to me again?

_Oh wait my cousin is coming next week, and he’s super cool. He’s the lead singer for Swimming with Sharks that had that hit last summer. He's always had like 16 girlfriends around if you wanted to ask for lady advice._

“That’s not a terrible idea.” I thought aloud. I texted him back, _sounds great! Let’s plan on that_. I watched Felix and Abigail again. They looked good together. Father would probably arrange for their marriage once Felix starred in the commercial. I could already hear father say something about Felix needing to carry on the Agreste name since he was the oldest.

"Are we done yet?” Plagg whined.

“No, shush!” I whispered. "Someone could hear you."

“Ugh, so you have time to oogle Felix, but not get me cheese.”

I shoved Plagg down into my jeans pocket with my middle finger.

“I know what that means!” Plagg bit my finger.

“Ow!” I pulled my finger back.

“You’re being an idiot; feed me.”

 

**Felix**

 

The shoot went fast, and I realized that I gave Abigail the wrong idea. Curse my sluttiness, I scowled.

“So are you taking me to the Gala next month?” She asked when we finished.

“Gala?”

“An even for those in the fashion industry except guests like Mayor Bourgeois.” She flashed me a knowing look. “I figured you would save yourself the embarrassment of taking Chloe.”

“It is a tempting offer.” I imaged it as prom, but worse. My stomach sank at the thought of snooty society of Paris who would judge my every move in order to compare it to Adrien or Gabriel. “I’m not sure I have to go to that yet. Gabriel hasn’t mentioned anything about it to me.”

“Is that your final answer?” She ran her fingers up my forearm.

I understood her too late, “Felixkins?”

Abigail pressed her chest into my shoulder as she leaned her lips up to my ear, “You probably have ten seconds before she finds you.”

“I’ll go with you.” I closed my eyes as I betrayed my heart. I wished I had asked Marinette instead since I knew that whatever Abigail and I had would get rocky eventually.

“I’ll have to give you your prize later.” She pressed her lips to my cheek. “Adieu mon cher.” Her hips swayed seductively as she skirted away.

No time to stare at her ass, “Adrien, hide me!” I called over my shoulder. I ran across the set and dove behind him as a human shield.

“What’s the matter? Sailor Felix afraid of Queen Chloe from the negaverse?”

“Well I have to tell you something that I haven’t told you yet, but I really should have.” I blurted out. “I know who Peacock is and I may have just agreed to go to the Gala next month with her.”

“You what!”

“I know how it sounds, but you have to trust me!”

Adrien grabbed my shoulders, “Do you realize what you’ve done!” He shook me till my head rattled. “Now I have to take Chloe to the Gala!”

“What?” I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself.

“I always end up with Chloe, I thought Father would have shoved her off to you this year.”

“You would have let him!” I punched his shoulder

“I’ve had to take her every year since I was ten years old! Do you realize how awful it is?”

“Well considering how I had to deal with her yesterday I think I can.”

“Felix and Adrienkins!” I pulled Adrien behind the set.

“How did she even get in here?”

“I’m sure she’ll get kicked out soon. But, we need to talk about the Gala.” Adrien turned to face me. “One of us has to take her, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I dealt with her on the beach, and I already said yes to Abigail.” I held my hands up, “She is all yours.”

“But, I was going to ask Marinette today.” Adrien groaned.

“Then why not hook Chloe up with someone else?”

Adrien groaned in frustration, “It’s physically impossible. I’ve tried and no one will take her! Her personality is just-just-”

“Horrible?”

“She’s my childhood friend, but she’s seriously the worst person. Did I ever tell you how many akuma attacks she’s caused?” Adrien peered between a crack in the set.

“Maybe she’s Hawk Moth.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, “I would suspect her if I didn’t already know Hawk Moth is a guy.”

My stomach clenched as I remembered Gabriel and the butterflies in the secret garden. “You’re sure Hawk Moth is a guy?”

“Yeah, he appeared to Ladybug and I when we first started.”

I clenched my jaw. “Interesting.”

“I guess? Hey, Chloe got kicked out.” Adrien hit my arm.

“Great. Now, all we have to do is find her a date.” I smacked my face, why the fuck do I do this to myself.

“You’ll help me?” Adrien smiled. "You'll really help me?"

“Yeah. I know Marinette would want to make a gala dress.” I scuffed the floor with my dress shoe. Fuck my willingness to help.

“Have I told you that you’re the best brother ever?”

I smiled sadly, “No you haven’t.”

“I guess I better say it every day now.” He smiled.

“Once again Felix Finch sacrificed Marinette time for his brother.” I groaned under my breath.

 


	17. Adrien gets his date, and Felix finds a clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien finally asks Mari to the gala, while Felix finds a clue that Hawk Moth laid out for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know people have been asking for more Felix/ Mari time, so I added some at the end. 
> 
> Thank you for reading <3!

 

**Adrien**

I knew exactly how I would ask Marinette. I picked up my phone to call her.

“Hi Adrien, it’s Marinette-I mean, of course, you know it’s me unless you called me by accident.”

“Hey Mari, I got done with my shoot and wondered if you wanted to go for a walk with me.” I smiled because I knew a walk would work better than the word dinner or date.

“Oh, a wal-walk? Sure I would love to. What time will you be over?” A nervous trickle of laughter followed.

“I’d say twenty minutes.”

“Oh that’s perfect um I um can be ready by that time.” She nearly shrieked.

“If it’s a bad time, I can come later.”

“No! No! It’s perfect, I’m already dressed for it.”

I heard something crash in the background, “Oh okay. That’s great to hear.” I figured she lied about being ready. “I’ll see you then.” I hung up the phone. “Do you mind dropping me off at Marinette’s?” I asked Gorilla.

He grunted in response and pulled away from the set.

“You’re doing it now?” Felix raised his brow.

“Yeah, I had everything ready since yesterday unless you want to sing us, Iris, again.” I snickered.

Felix turned red and punched me hard. “Bring that up again and I swear.” Felix never finished his sentence.

“No.” I groaned as I saw a green dude in the middle of the road.

“I am Plantimis, and I will bring Mother Earth back to Paris!” Vines grew over the road.

“Fuck, I don’t have my costume,” Felix muttered.

Gorilla spun the car through an alley that led back to the manor.

“I’ll be hiding in terror in my room!” I called over my shoulder to Natalie.

“Uh same for me.” Felix followed me up the steps to his room. He turned on my stereo before he tore off his clothes.

“Can’t you just do that in the bathroom?” Plagg covered his eyes.

“Not all of us transform into magical bondage outfits.” Felix stood in nothing but his underwear. “Besides I would make a great underwear model.”

“Just put on your costume.” I averted my eyes. “Plagg, claws out!” Greenlight surrounded me, and I flexed my claws.

“I thought you said the transform me thing, but in French.” Felix pulled up the white part of his suit. “This always gets stuck on my butt.” He muttered as he jumped up.

“Either phrase works.” I shrugged and sat on my bed. I tapped my foot as I waited for him.

“I’m hurrying!” Felix pulled on his mask and hood. “Done!” He attached a grappling hook to his belt.

“I thought you broke yours?”

“I bought two. I only plan to run into those arms dealers once.” He grabbed my arm. “Is this where you get frisky with me?”

I grabbed him around the wait, “Only for you bo-fur.” I propelled us out the window and over the wall.

“That’s really bad. How are we getting there anyway?”

I swung him into both arms Lois Lane style, “I was just going to carry you.” I started to run.

“If anyone sees me, I will kill you,” Felix shouted as I jumped over roofs.

I set him down once we were closer. “Catch up when you can!” I shouted as I dove down into the street.

 

**Felix**

 

“Catch me when you can,” I muttered. “I can keep up.” I jumped onto the next roof.  I hurried towards the battle.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Plantimis asked when he spotted me on the roof. I peered down from the roof to see he had Marinette wrapped up in vines, and Adrien fought against the vines that attempted to bind him.

Shit, I realized I never came up with a name. “Call me Tiger.” I jumped to the next roof.

“You don’t have a miraculous.” Plantimis surged his vines towards me.

“Oh, I don’t need one.” I ran across the next roof, jumped on the chimney, shot the grappling hook across the roof, and jumped down. “How’s this for an eco-footprint?” I shouted before I kicked him in the face.

“Lucky Charm!” Mari shouted behind me. “A plastic bag? What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Do you mind if I cut in?” A sharp feather stuck the ground beneath my feet. I looked up to see Abigail on the roof ahead with her fan splayed out. “Come on and play Tiger. I don't have all day.”

I dodged more feathers as I led her away from Marinette and Adrien. “Pretty bird, I thought we were past this?” I slid over a car’s hood as a row of sharp feathers struck the hood.

“Oh, I’m just playing kitten.” Abigail landed on top of the car. “Don’t tell me you’re worn out already.”

I jumped to my feet, “Why don’t we cut the play fight short. What do you want?”

Abigail jumped down from the car, “Hawk Moth has a task for you.”

“What task?” I asked through clenched teeth. Like hell I was gonna work for the guy trying to hurt my brother.

“He needs you to go to this address tonight alone.” She handed me a purple envelope.

I eyed the butterfly seal, “How vague, is that all you wanted?”

“No, but we are in broad daylight. I can’t go around giving our secrets away.” She blew me a kiss then kicked me in the chest. “Have to keep it real, sorry Kitten.”

Marinette whipped her yo-yo between us. It went dangerously close to my face. “Give us back the stolen miraculous, and I might take it easy on you.”

“Just you and me Ladybug.” Abigail lunged towards her over the car.

Marinette lowered herself to grab Abigail’s leg with her yo-yo. Abigail smiled and flicked her fan that she had closed in her right hand.

“Ladybug!” Adrien dove on top of Marinette and pressed her to the street.

“I look forward to fighting you Ladybug without your kitty cats.” Abigail had unwrapped herself from the yo-yo, "It's a good thing your kitty was here to save you. I doubt he'd like you all scratched up anyway." She let out a cool laugh before jumping up from the car onto a nearby roof.

“Should we go after her?” Adrien asked.

“No, not today.” Marinette’s earrings flashed. “I actually have somewhere I have to be now that the akuma is taken care of.”

“I need to be somewhere too.” Adrien thumbed the other way and ran off.

After I watched him fade into the distance, I realized something. “Hey come back asshole! How am I supposed to go home?” I turned and realized Marinette was gone too. “Both of you suck.” I took out my grappling hook and grappled to a roof. I stood on the dinged grey roof and realized something else. “I don’t know where the fuck I am!”

 

**Adrien**

 

I recalled, once I landed at Marinette’s place, that Felix was probably out in Paris alone. “He’ll be fine.” I waved away my grain of concern. Felix could handle himself for an hour or two. I held the flowers I bought for Marinette to my chest as I strode towards the back door when I disheveled Marinette appeared.

“H-Hi Adrien!” She wore a cute blue sundress that matched her bluebell eyes.

“Hi, Mari.” I flushed at the site of her. “These are for you.” I handed her the pink roses I bought her.

Her face turned that cute shade of red, “Adrien they’re beautiful. Thank you.” She held them gingerly. The pink from the flowers matched her lips.

“Are you ready for our walk?”

Mari looked at me with bright blue eyes, “Yes I am.” She smiled.

I threaded her arm through mine, “So how was your day?” We walked towards the Notre Dame.

“Nothing exciting. I just worked on men’s formal wear all day. I still can’t seem to get a unique idea on how to do it.”

“I’m sure you will, you’re so talented.” I smiled at her.

“No.” She blushed.

“You really are Mari.” We passed through the scenic streets, and I felt nervous as we approached our destination. “So Chloe crashed the set today.” 

“Oh did she?”

I wavered between my options of hurting Chloe or not for the sake of Marinette’s smile. “Well, she wanted to ask Felix to the gala so she snuck in.” I started to laugh. “You should have seen how terrified he was! He hid behind me like a human shield until she got kicked out.”

“What! That’s so embarrassing.” She squealed. “I have got to tease him about that. At least she’s leaving you alone.” 

“Till school starts again at least.” I chuckled. We approached the Notre Dame as the sunset that gleamed off the river beside it. “So Mari, I actually wanted to ask you something.” I brushed the back of my head. “I wanted to ask you to go to the Gala with me next month. I know you might not have enough time to design a dress, but I could lend you one from my father’s collection.”

“Adrien...I-I don’t know. I’ve never been to something like that before.”

I held her hand between my two, “I would be honored if you would go with me.”

Mari gazed dreamily at me, “Yes. I’ll go, but I need to start designing now.” Her dreamy gaze disappeared.

“Mari, you don’t have to impress my father.”

“The heads of the fashion world will be at this event, and I will have my own dress.” She announced in a determined tone. “Plus I need to make sure you have a beautiful date.” Her palm smacked over her lips.

“Mari, you’re already beautiful,” I whispered.

Her blush level rose to maximum when she grabbed my hand. “Let’s head back to my room so I can go over color schemes with you.” She managed to speak without stammering.

 

**Felix**

 I eventually found my way back to the Agreste manor. I grabbed supplies then followed directions to the address in the envelope before Adrien came home. The envelope leads me to a dusty bar that I wasn’t even aware Paris had. “How bad would it be if I went in like this?” I flexed my fake claws. I did have a couple smoke bombs, but the fire department would show up. I wondered if Hawk Moth would be out of costume inside, although I would know if Gabriel was Hawk Moth then. That seemed like a stupid idea on his part if he was. Too obvious even. Gabriel was a well known, established figure in Paris. He couldn't just walk into some skuzzy bar and expect people to leave him alone.

 _“ I'm a tough tootin' baby, I can puncha yo buns, puncha yo buns, I can punch all your buns! If you're an evil witch, I will punch you for fun!”_ My phone went off. There was a private caller i.d. “Superhero delivery service. You bad, we good. Tiger speaking, and I assume this is Hawk Moth?” I answered.

“Felix, how nice of you to come. I’m sorry to say I won’t be meeting you in the bar tonight, but I do have a task for you to complete.”

“Oh?” I tried to decide if this voice was Gabriel’s. I guess it could be his. It lacked his irritation though. That greeting would have at least gotten a big sigh out of him.

“I need you to find it.”

I blinked, “Find what?”

“Find it.” He repeated.

“I don’t understand.” The smell of smoke filled my nose.

“You have five minutes to find it and meet me.”

“Wait! I don’t understand.” I cried as I watched people file out of the bar. "That's too vague."

“Oh, you’ll know when you find it.” The call ended.

“Shit.” I jumped down from the roof and broke through a side window. “How obscure can you get! Even Slade was more specific.” I turned frantically around the bar. The flames were in the back. I ran towards them to put out the fire, but then the flames jumped engulfing what I assumed was a storage room? Might have been the kitchen. I felt the heat lick my face. I backed away as I realized putting this out on my own wasn’t an option anymore. “You’ll know when you find it? Five minutes.” I muttered as I went towards the front.

Nothing was out of the ordinary: seats, a bar, a dart board, pictures on the wall, and shitty music playing.

_“ La mer, Qu'on voit danser. Le long des golfes clairs, A des reflets d'argent. La mer.”_

I searched along the bar in panic. There was nothing but empty glasses that I knocked aside. “What would Batman do?” I shook my head. If something would burn in five minutes from this then it had to be light, obviously flammable, and close to the fire that Hawk Moth or Abigail started in the back.

I turned to see the flames as the crept closer. I gazed around again in frustration as I noticed a closet by the pictures on the wall were close to the flames. “The pictures!” I ran over to the wall. There were hundreds of pictures. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I scanned all of them until I found it. “No.” It was a picture of four people, and I recognized three.

The flames crackled and I felt the heat burn my back. I covered my mouth and ran out the front just as sirens in the distance appeared into view with bright flashing  colors. I turned back into a side alley and pulled out the picture. “I don’t understand.” The picture showed four young teenagers: A messy haired Gabriel in a leather jacket and cigarette in his mouth with his arm around my mom who was practically in his lap, and Adrien’s mother with her hand outstretched towards Gabriel or my mom while the end guy had his arm around her shoulders. He looked dopey faced compared to the other three in the picture. "What the fuck is this supposed to mean?" I thought Gabriel insisted that my mom was a one night stand? This looked like they knew each other. Knew, knew each other.

“I knew you would find it. What a smart young man.” A figure stood at the end of the alley.

“Why did you have me find this?” I stanced ready to fight, but couldn’t move forward.

“Oh, you’ll figure it out. You’ve already passed the first test.” I could practically hear his cruel smile ring in my ears as if it were a laugh, “Your mother was always so smart. It warms my heart to know you inherited that from her.” He turned his back on me. “Come Abigail.”

It was then I saw her shadow follow him. “Abigail?” I called out in a weak voice.

She never turned back.

  **Adrien**

 “Felix isn’t in his room.” Plagg nestled beside me.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” I yawned.

“I feel like he’s not.” Plagg patted my cheek.

“Plagg, he’s probably with Abigail right now.” I yawned and placed Plagg on my pillow. “Just go to sleep.”

   
 **Felix**

 I ran all the way to Marinette’s. I grappled to her balcony and opened her trap door. “Marinette!” I cried.

“Felix?” She grumbled from her bed. “What are you doing here?” She pulled the blankets up to her nose.

“Marinette, Hawk Moth gave me instructions to meet him at a bar, and to find this.” I handed Mari the picture.

“Why would he ask you to find this?” She gazed at the picture.

“It means something, and I’m going to figure it out.” I grasped her hand in mine. “Marinette, will you help me?”

Marinette met her blue eyes to my grey, “Yes.” 

My heart sped up, "Good because we have a lot to cover."

 


	18. Felix's Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Adrien has a shoot, Felix discovers Abigail snooping around the mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept things clean, but let me know your thoughts if you guys want more 'adult' scenes. I would be willing to consider making changes. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Felix**

 I told Marinette everything from the Batman stripper pole to Abigail being the Peacock. I even told her about my theory about Gabriel.

“Felix, I don’t think Mr. Agreste as Hawk Moth is possible.”

“Stripper pole and butterflies Marinette! A secret door that leads to who knows where?”

“Couldn’t that just be the door that leads from the front room?”

“Why does everyone know that but me,” I muttered. I sat on her pink bed even though my back was twisted in an awkward way because of it.

“I don’t think Mr. Agreste is Hawk Moth. Why would he even became Hawk Moth?” Mari yawned.

“I think I can answer that.” Tikki appeared from behind Marinette’s pillow. “There is a rumor that those who use the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous at the same time can have control over life and death.”

“See! Gabriel wants to bring back Mrs. Agreste!” I threw my hands up and hit the ceiling. I brought my hands to my sides ignoring the sting of pain.

“But, this is only a half-truth. You can bring someone back from the dead, but they will never be the same person you lost. In some cases, you have to sacrifice another life to bring back the one you lost. The ritual has only been performed successfully once.” Tikki concluded. "It ended with both of them dying."

“If Mr.Agreste was Hawk Moth and wanted to bring back Mrs.Agreste, why would he have a girlfriend?” Marinette rubbed her eyes. "That doesn't make sense."

I opened my mouth then closed it. She had a great point that I forgot I even told her about. “I guess you’re right.’ Hesitation twisted in my gut after I said that. “I better let you sleep.” I jumped off her bed.

“Okay, night Felix.” Marionette collapsed on her pillow.

Even though it was so late, I couldn’t sleep. “I need answers.” Maybe Google would have some.

  
The next day my regular schedule resumed: French and Mandarin with Adrien, Karate with 12 year olds again, and then back to the manor for lunch with Adrien.

“Where were you last night?” Adrien sipped his soup.

“Nowhere.” I shrugged. I felt the need to keep my visit with Marinette, Ladybug, a secret.

“Is nowhere code for Abigail?” Adrien wiggled his brow suggestively.

“No, it’s not. I was meaning to tell you about that.” I splashed my bland soup. “I’ll tell you about it after your shoot today.”

“Oh! Father told me you got the commercial.” Adrien smiled at me, “Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” My guilty stomach twisted even more at the thought of an angry Abigail with her hands around my throat. Abigail must know that I would never agree to team up with Hawk Moth, but I wanted to know why she did.

“Commercials are easy Felix. You shouldn’t worry about it too much.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” I had so much on my plate: a mystery to solve, a pending deal with Hawk Moth, Marinette with Adrien and how to deal with these fucking feelings for her that I shouldn't have, and finally Abigail.

“Is there something else you’re worried about?”

I turned to Adrien with a forced smile, “Of course not. Just stayed up too late.” I messed up my hair, “I think I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when you return.”

   
 **Adrien**

 

 Maybe Plagg had been right. “He certainly doesn’t seem like himself today.”

“Maybe he just needs a nap, I could use one.” Plagg yawned.

“You slept most of the day.” I stood.

“Yeah, but I need more sleep. Being a kwami is serious work, Adrien.” Plagg cuddled into my white jacket pocket.

“You probably sleep so much because your body has to work so hard to digest all the cheese you eat,” I muttered as I headed to the front door. I had yet another shoot that would be longer than yesterday.

I pulled out my phone and texted Marinette, _Hey._ I sat in the car and jiggled my knee as I waited for her to respond.

_Hey Adrien! :)_

Smiley face was a good sign, _How is the dress design going?_ I hadn’t thought of anything else to ask.

_Great! I’ll send you some pictures of the sketches later today._

_Or I could just stop by after my shoot and see them in person :),_ I smiled as I held my phone. She’ll say yes, I repeated in my mind.

 _Okay, just let me know when you’re on your way._ She sent me a cute meme of a panda gif after.

I held my phone to my chest, “So this is what it’s like to have a girlfriend.”

 

**Felix**

 

I tossed for about two hours before I gave up on my nap. The whole place was silent, so I opened my door. “Hello?” I called out into the hallway. There wasn’t any answer. I decided now would be a good of time as any to sneak into that secret room in the garage.

I headed towards the library to pull the book out of the top shelf when I saw Abigail. I hid behind the corner and watched. Her nimble hands slipped over book titles as she tugged one by one. I watched her creep closer to the right one, and decided I couldn’t let her find it.

“Abigail, what are you doing here?” I asked in an authoritative tone.

She spun on her heels, “Just looking for something.”

If Gabriel was Hawk Moth, why would Abigail be here searching for the right book? “You shouldn’t be here.” I stepped closer to her.

“I had orders.” She answered coldly.

“I mean you shouldn’t be here.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and yanked her to my chest, “My room is down the hall.” I winked.

Her cold demeanor warmed, “Is it kitten?” Her fingers trailed up my neck to nestle in my hair.

“We better investigate to make sure.” I brushed my lips over hers. I needed to distract her so I could get into Gabriel’s hidden room first.

“I think we should.” Abigail grabbed my ass, “I’m going to find it first.”

“What’s the fun in getting there before me?” I hurried after her.

I watched as she turned to face me in amazement as she slowly lifted up her shirt. She smirked as she threw her white tee shirt on the floor. I gaped at her in a pale pink bra with breasts that almost spilled out, her lightly tanned skin that begged to be touched, and an hourglass waist that would be perfect for my hands. I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth. “God damn.” My inner slut cried to come out. I watched her ass sway in her dark jean shorts with hunger. One time hookup couldn't make me attached to her? I'd done it before.

“Come on Tiger.” She rolled her hips and headed down the hall. “Now which one is yours?” She hummed. She started to open door after door until she arrived at the guest bedroom I was staying in. “I can tell this one is yours.” She rested her back against the door frame.

“Oh? Pretell mademoiselle.” I leaned over her.

“I saw you in here napping earlier.” She blushed.

“You should have joined me.” I cursed myself to keep it together. She’s trying to distract you on purpose so she can get into whatever is in that room, I screamed in my mind. I should be interrogating her, not seducing her.

“I will next time.” She stood on up on her toes to press her lips to mine.

That kiss was it, everything was over for me so I figured I might as well enjoy it. I grabbed her hips and pressed her to me. I thumbed beneath her jean shorts to find the pink string of her thong as I enjoyed the sensation of her lips. She's in a thong. Her in her thong on my bed, out of the thong on my bed. My mind hungrily flashed these images to me.

Abigail broke the kiss and made her way to the bed.“Your bed smells like you.” She sighed.

I gulped as I watched her chest rise, “Uh huh.” I had to silence my I had to inner slut silenced with my higher intelligence that screamed that this was a bad idea. I knew this wouldn’t end well, and I knew I didn’t like her in any way that wasn’t physical, at least I thought so, yet I watched her with torn feelings. I could like her, I decided. I could really, really like Abigail. But, her current position set her up for betrayal. A girl that was bad news was a fact that never stopped me before, but somehow I felt guilty as I watched her spread her legs. 

“You seem distracted.” She crossed her legs as the jean shorts rose up her thigh. “A distracted mind won’t help me out of these shorts.” She uncrossed her legs.

Everything about her made my body scream to leap on her open invitation, but my conscious held me back. “Abigail, I really, really, really want to-” I leaned against the wall as I wrestled between my instinct and my higher reasoning. Come on I chanted. Don't be Beast Boy, don't be Beast Boy.

“But?” She sat up with an angry glare.

“I just think we should wait. I-” I stared at her as the sunlight glowed around her through my big window. She was an angel even if she worked for the bad guy. “I have a confession to make.” I bit my thumb as I watched her swing her blood red hair over her shoulders.

“You’re secretly a virgin?”

“God no-” I laughed, “I have never been in love before.” I crouched against the wall. I pressed my back against it as I willed myself to stay strong.

“You’ve never been in love?”

I shook my head, “Not even once. I’ve liked girls, but for physical reasons.” My mind trailed to Marinette’s blue eyes.

“Okay.” Abigail walked over to me and grabbed my arm. She dragged me to the bed.

I closed my eyes and willed the inner superhero in me to stare only at her eyes, “I can’t do that to you. I can’t do this and ruin everything before it even begins.” The words flowed from my mouth smoothly. It wasn’t necessarily a lie.

“You want to wait?” Her green eyes looked cat-like in the late afternoon sunlight. She played with her red hair between her fingers as she stared at the floor.

“No matter how much it kills me, I think we should get to know each other better.” Hope bubbled inside me at the thought that I may be able to save her. Her actions could be blamed on Hawk Moth. She could still walk free from this. “I still hope I can save you,” I whispered.

Her green eyes hardened. “I don’t need to be saved if you’re on my side.” She stood up from my bed.

I held her white tee shirt limply as she snatched it from my hand. “You’re right,” I said softly. I wished she would let me save her, "But, what if I don't join your side?"

Abigail didn't answer. She just stormed out of my room. 

**Adrien**

 I arrived home from Marinette’s to see an angry Abigail as she stormed out of the manor. I blinked as she passed me, yet said nothing. “Felix?” I called. I headed up to his room where I heard colorful cursing. “Felix?” I opened the door to see Felix curled up in a ball on his bed.

“I’m an idiot!” He pulled the pillow over his face.

“What?” I walked over to him.

“I could have had sex with a Victoria’s Secret model, but I just had to be a gentlemen.” He threw his pillow at me.

“I’m a good influence.” I grinned. “She looked mad though.”

“Because she wanted to have sex and I said no.” He threw another pillow aimed at my face. “I should have just done it. Do you know how pissed girls get when you say no to sex with them?”

I sat on his bed and nodded, “Nike wisdom.” I joked. I actually had no experience about having sex with a girl when I didn't want to. I'd never had sex.  

Felix glared at me, “Well if you ever get laid, I’ll make sure to screw it up for you.” He kicked me.

“How is this might fault?” I pushed his leg away.

“For being such a good influence on me.”

“I am the cinnamon roll of the family according to this quiz in Teen weekly.”

“Let me guess I’m the black sheep of the family?” Felix’s voice was muffled from being face planted on the bed.

“Misunderstood cinnamon roll.” I laughed.

“Haha. Adrien Agreste is so funny.” He rolled his eyes.

“I wish I was joking.” I handed him the magazine.

Felix gagged and threw it out of his hand, “God why?” Felix rolled on his stomach.

“Are you seriously going to mope all day because you didn’t do it?”

“No.” He sighed and sat up. “Let’s get out of here.”


	19. Wherefore art thou Felix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix and Adrien have guy time and manage to stop an art heist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a fun chapter, sorry for the wait! <3
> 
> p.s. I'm going to try and post 1-2 times a week. 
> 
> Thanks for reading :D

**Felix**

“The guys in my class are hanging out at Max’s today.” Adrien led me down Parisian streets. Some of the streets looked ancient with brick roads, but most were blacktopped. Paris was beautiful in an old world meets modern kind of way. I appreciated that Adrien was finally showing me the real Paris. I glanced at all the beautiful wall art the lined some of the building walls we passed. One drawing in particular drew me.

“What does this mean?” I pointed to the drawing of a kissing couple on a black gate door with a green square in front of it.

“Feel free here,” Adrien answered.

“The girl kind of looks like Marinette.” I glared as I wondered if that tomato haired douche made this.

Adrien turned his head, “I guess so? We better hurry if we want Max to look at this.”Adrien gestured to the drawstring bag I carried. “He’ll be able to fix that in no time.”

“Yeah?” I shifted the bag.

“Yeah, he was able to enter the robotics competition two years early. It’s normally only reserved for seniors.” Adrien said proudly.

“Cool.” I couldn’t recall anything I ever did that was extraordinary before this summer. “One time my freshmen year, I snuck into a house that was supposed to be haunted and messed around with this hot sophomore named Julia.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I was just trying to share one of my successes.” 

Adrien laughed, “How is that a success?”

“Oh trust me, it was a success.” I winked at him.

“Do you ever think about something besides girls?”

“Of course I do.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, anime remember.”

Adrien snorted, “I’m serious. Don’t you have any hobbies?”  
My eyes turned towards the blue sky, “Well I know how to ride a motorcycle, I have a habit for breaking the law, my latest being participating in vigilantism, I draw some, I read mysteries…” I squinted my eyes in concentration, “I’m an avid appreciator of the female form.”

Adrien laughed, “I guess these are the questions I should have asked your first week here.”

“I guess. What about you?” I turned to Adrien.

“I like physics, I enjoy reading, anime, basketball, fencing, Mandarin, English, cartoons, video games, hanging out with friends, being Chat Noir, making puns, eating, and of course Ladybug.”  

“I didn’t ask for your life story,” I muttered.

“I just have a lot of interests.” Adrien held an arm out for me to stop at a crosswalk. Busy cars swooshed by with little concern for pedestrians. “I have been meaning to ask you something.”

“Yeah?” I watched all the odd cars and wondered if a truck would even fit on these narrow streets.

“Do you have any friends?”

The question stung, “A couple. I wouldn’t call them great friends.” In reality, I had one actual friend who hadn't bothered to talk to me in two weeks.

“Why?”

I shifted my weight to my left foot, “Well when your mom is rich and a famous model, people just expect you to be a certain way.” I glanced again at the sky as I remembered my first harsh encounter with reality. “They expect you to be just as attractive, dress a certain way, be a certain way, and model too,” I remembered the horrible private school I attended in middle school: the uniforms, strict teachers,  the people who expected you to be a shallow airhead, the condescending looks they shot as you passed them in the halls if you missed a drug-induced party even though everyone was fourteen and under, and the rumors that circled when I got in trouble with the law for trespassing. Everyone made it sound so much worse than it was.

“Did you attend private school?” Adrien asked before he stepped onto the white cross walk.

“Middle school yeah, but I convinced my mom to transfer me to a public high school not that it’s much better. The great part is I can wear what I want though.”

“You’ll have to tell me all the horror stories later.” Adrien walked up to a short duplex house. "I'd only been homeschooled until DuPont."

I followed him up to the left side of the two doors. Nerves clenched my stomach at the thought about meeting Adrien’s guy friends since I had never been good with guys in a group. To be fair I did have the tendency to steal girls, not on purpose, which got me labeled as a backstabbing womanizer. No wonder my only real guy friend was gay.

“Kim, you’re doing it wrong.” A voice carried down the hallway.

“Guys, Felix and I are here,” Adrien yelled. Adrien kicked off his shoes and headed down the short wooden hallway.

I followed him once again with knots in my stomach. Five guys sat on a couch, and I only recognized Nino and tomato head. “Bonjour.” I gave an awkward wave from behind Adrien.

“Sup’ dude.” Nino smiled.

“Bonjour.” A large guy in a black shirt grunted.

“Salutations, Adrien already informed us your French wasn’t very good. My name is Max,  this is Kim, Nathanael, Ivan, and my little brother Macee.” The small version of Max looked up at me with curious eyes. His brown eyes looked at my face then the pale orange drawstring bag in my right arm.

“Did you bring a game?” Macee asked.

“Oh no, this is nothing.” I lied and turned back down the hallway to place the bag by my shoes. I returned to find Adrien wedged between Nathanael, who I thought he hated because of the giant Marinette crush, and Ivan. I sat in the spot where Macee had been, which was by Max and Kim. I watched the screen bored already. I never liked watching other people play games. Was it because girls were more interesting to be around or the fact I might get laid, I pondered the possible reasons I never did well with guy time as the games continued.

 

Video games lasted for an hour before the guys decided that we should go to the park and play basketball. I stood from the couch ready to finally do something interesting when something bumped me in the head. I looked down to see a nerf dart on the floor. I gazed up towards the kitchen to see a pair of brown eyes narrow glaring at me from around the corner. He shot another at me, but this one was wrapped in paper. I picked it up and unwrapped the note written in green crayon: I know who you are.”

“Why does this happen to me.” I muttered, “Hey guys I’m gonna use the restroom.” I walked towards Marcee.

“The bathroom is the other way.” I heard Max call.

I walked into a small dining room with four chairs placed around a square table. “I know you’re that new hero.” Macee held my drawstring bag.

“You don’t even know what that is.” I grabbed the bag from him with ease. “And who cares about the new sidekick.”

“You need help.” He said flatly. “You can’t even fix this ancient equipment, and last time I checked you can’t do anything without it because you don't have a miraculous.”

 I said nothing. I started to leave the room when Macee got my attention.

“I’m smarter than him you know. I’m smarter than Max, but everyone disregards me because I’m only nine. I know how to fix your suite and tech if that’s what you can call this.” He had a sly smile on his chubby face like he was so damn proud of himself. It was kind of endearing.

“How could you do that?” I asked humoring him.

“Because I have a full garage full of robotics equipment left over from Max’s designs, and make my own. I’ll need you to buy materials though and pay me.”

“Ghee model for a week and suddenly everyone wants money from you.” I paused at his offer though, the kid was smart enough to piece everything together. It’s not like I’ve been superheroing for very long that would give him a lot of hints either.

“Just think about it. You’ll need me eventually.”

I said nothing, and let the room to follow after Adrien out the door to the basketball court.

* * *

  
“Do you think Light became a shinigami after he died?” I asked Adrien as I perched over a roof.

“What does that have to do with anything right now?” Adrien leaned lazily against a small chimney as his fake tail flicked on the roof. He stared at me with half-lidded green eyes, “What?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “But, I do want an answer to my question though.”

“It makes sense. He died in possession of a death note.”

“I thought he didn’t?” I tried to recall the shitty ending to such a great anime. I never bothered to read the manga. I should read the manga.

“Look!” Adrien elbowed me and pointed down under an aging green Parisian street light. We were in the part of Paris considered to be the main historical district. I still had no idea where we were, but if I stuck close to Adrien I wouldn’t have to.

I watched a figure break into an old castle looking museum. “What would Hawk Moth want in there?” I saw Abigail disappear through a window. Well, a figure I assumed was Abigail because the blue figure appeared to have a majorly good booty even from a distance.

“Who knows, but it can’t be anything good.” Adrien wrapped a clawed hand around my waist.

“Glad you’re feline fresh.”

“Furry funny bo-fur.”

“Your puns are just lame.” I shouted in his ear as he propelled us on to the museum roof.

“You go left, I’ll take right.” Adrien thumbed to his right.

“Alright better stop Abigail from going to jail,” I muttered as I jumped through the window she had opened. She if it was her. “You’d really think that these museums would have bars or something.” I stepped onto a faded maroon carpet. “Abby?” I whispered. “Abigail, wherefore art thou Abigail?” I crept along the worn floor as quietly as I could. I stumbled upon a black figure who stood in front of a painting. My first clue that it wasn’t Abigail is that the dude was clearly a guy who had no ass. I don’t know why I thought Hawk Moth would want anything here.

I debated whether or not I should just attack the guy without Adrien. Who was I kidding, I knew I would. I crept without his notice till I stood behind him. “I was never much of a modern art fan.”

The guy turned wide-eyed and I slammed my fist into his face. He gasped then sank to the ground. I wrapped him up in the spare grappling line I had from my broken grappling hook. “Chat?” I called down the hallway. “I got the guy!” I shouted.

Silence was my only reply; could this have been a trap?

“I’ve seen enough action movies to know not to leave you behind.” I started down the hall dragging the unconscious criminal behind me. “Either you have to lose weight or I need to start lifting more.” I huffed. "Fuck, I wish I had a magical bondage suit right now."

The dark portrait covered hallway turned left into a stairwell that you could go either up or down the narrow set of wooden stair. The black iron railing looked flimsy without me touching it. “Ugh, goddammit.” I lugged the unconscious guy over my right shoulder with a grunt. “Why couldn't I get the goddamn magical bondage costume that allows for fucking super strength?” I started down the steps.

“Ow!” The guy bellowed as I accidentally smacked his head against the railing.

“I a-paw-logize for my clumsy carrying, but at least you know now crime doesn’t pay.”

“You idiot, I’m the security guard!”

“Say who now?”

“Tu es betes comme tes pieds! The evil red-haired peacock stole my uniform and placed me in this. I was making sure that none of the paintings were stolen when you punched me!”

“Oh.”I set the guy down on the stairs and untied him. “Do you know what she wanted?”

“She was looking at portraits before she knocked me out and put me in this!”

What would Hawk Moth want with paintings? “Oh, I’m so sorry I punched you.”

“Did you catch the bad guy?” Adrien dropped down from the stairs above.

“No, Peacock just changed her outfit onto him. I could have sworn she was blue from the roof. She probably knew that one of us would end up taking him out.” That one being me, I thought glumly.

“Are you okay sir?”

“No, I am not! I have been rendered unconscious twice in one night-"

"Yeah, you might want to get that checked."

"You two just make sure the artwork is all present. I’m going to find ice.” He struggled to his feet.

“Will do sir.” Adrien tugged my hand. “You don’t just punch people!” He hissed once we were out of earshot.

“I didn’t know if he was armed! I just snuck up behind him and punched.” I punched my palm to emphasize my point. "It's a natural fight or flight response."

“We need to do more training, and you need a weapon that’s not your fist.”

“Yeah, I know.” I groaned as I ran after Adrien up the stairs. Fucking stairs.

We went to the third floor and both turned to each other when we realized something. “Um, Felix where is all the art?”

“I think we just got bamboozled!” I turned to run down the stairs.

“Go find the art, I’ll go after the guy.” Adrien jumped over my shoulders and slid down the flimsy railing.

“Right, just let me do that.” I ran as fast as I could down the small steps. I jogged outside where I saw a white van and a female figure dressed in blue. “You know it’s not nice to frame people.” I lunged at the woman and knocked her down.

“Get the art!” Adrien shouted as he twirled his staff to knock out two guys.

I pulled open the passenger door of the running van and hurled myself onto the driver’s seat where I locked the van doors. The fake security guard pounded on the window in anger. “Sorry I can’t hear you over your bullshit.” I turned on the radio. “I have no idea what they’re singing about,” I shouted as I nodded to the music.

The guy flipped me off before Adrien dragged him off with the others. Sirens blared as two police vehicles pulled up.

“Alright, we’ll take it from here Chat Noir and sidekick.” A dopey red-haired cop waved us away. He was probably related to tomato face.

“Chat Noir and Sidekick? I have a name!”

“I thought you didn’t want to be called Tiger?” Adrien pointed out.

“Alright, I’ll let it slide.” I walked out of the police area with Adrien by my side. “You wanna go watch Death Note?”

“Sure, who needs sleep?” Adrien grinned as he snaked his arm around me.

“It’s for the weak.”

 


	20. Felix and Adrien: The beginning battle for Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix finally has some alone time with Mari to Adrien's despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun for me to write! I'm glad that I've been getting so many comments for everyone <3 I hope you enjoy reading it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Side Note: the girl for Kiss him, not me really does look like Marinette when her hair is in pigtails. It's what gave me the inspiration to add it in here. It's actually a really funny anime.

 

**Felix**

 

“June 12th already,” I grumbled when I check my phone. The days flew by, but I saw nothing of Marinette since she was too busy working on the formal wear and her gala dress. I was secretly pleased that Adrien didn’t get the chance to see her either. I just hoped that this week Mari would have time to hang out. I texted her, “ Hey any chance we can meet up this week?” I threw my phone on the bed as I grabbed a pair of navy jeans from the floor. I tousled by blond hair and threw on a white tank that read Sun's out, Guns out. I knew the shirt would annoy Gabriel to bits. I still hadn’t snuck into the secret room, but neither had Abigail. At least I hoped. I would have to plan to do that this week. All I needed was the opportunity with everyone gone.

I headed down the white hallway towards the front dining room when I heard shouting.

“But father, I already invited Marinette. She has the dress all planned out. She’s already making it”

“Felix can’t take Miss Bourgeois if he’s already escorting Abigail to the event. Adrien, you need to think of our family’s social standing.”

“I don’t care about our social standing if it means I can’t take Marinette.”

I peeked around the corner to see Adrien with a puffed chest and whimpered confidence. Time to save the day, “Dad, I think I have a solution to our problem.” I strolled in savoring Gabriel’s livid features when he turned his eyes on my shirt.

“Take that off.”

“I don’t want to show off in front of Adrien, dad. I can’t upstage him all the time.” I winked just to season his rage a little more. “I propose that Nino’s cousin, who Adrien was so kindly telling about last night, should take Chloe this year instead of us. Nino’s cousin is the lead singer of Swimming with Sharks after all.”

“That’s right father, why would she want to go with us when she could go with a rock star.”

“The musical songbird of our generation.” I took a bite into my parfait that sat in front of my chair.

Gabriel glared at my shirt so intensely it should have burst into flames. “Take that ludicrous shirt off and I’ll tell Mayor Bourgeois the news.”

“But, I literally just got it. I have to wear it sometime.” I gulped another bite.

“Try never wear it again, and I’ll buy you a brand new shirt.” Gabriel offered in a fake fatherly tone.

“It’s bad enough I already gave up smoking for the summer, you just have to try and take a guy’s tank.” I flexed. “How can I make Natalie swoon now? Someone has to be the eye candy of this family.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, “I’ll just burn it while you sleep then. I swear if that ends up in a gossip magazine, I’ll tell you another secret.”

I gagged on my parfait to Gabriel’s enjoyment. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“What secret?” Adrien stared blankly between us.

I smacked him on the head, “Stay out of this.” I growled.

“Stop hitting your brother! If he bruises before his next shoot tomorrow, you’ll go in his place!”

“Oh, wait was it about that song?” Adrien started to laugh. “Do-do you think Felix could sing Iris at the gala?” Adrien ducked under my fist as he choked on laughter.

“I swear I will smack that smile off your face!”

“Both of you stop that. You’re behaving like children.” Gabriel scolded, but a smile played on his lips. He actually looked...happy.

“Yes, sir.” Adrien ducked my fist again.

“Just you wait brat.” I picked up my parfait and took a menacing bite. "I hope you do bruise."

"Felix!" Father shot me one last glare before sculking off to his office.

   
After our turbulent family bonding morning, the rest of the day passed normally: Mandarin and French, which I have now begun to call Frendarin, Karate that I actually improved at now that I wasn’t in a class with twelve-year-olds anymore. I moved up to a class that was with fourteen-year-olds. Sadly this reminded me that freshman were weird as pineapples on a pizza.

On my way back to the manor, I finally received a reply from Marinette. Yeah, I really need a break. What do you do when you're stressed?

“Smoke.”

“Besides that.”

“Sex? I’d be happy to help with that ;)”

“Next.”

“Anime?”

“Why don’t you just come over today and show me one. I’ve never been into anime.”

“I think I have the perfect one for you.”  I could just snuggle with Mari on her bed and watch a girly anime with her to my heart’s content. I smiled at my phone, “Score one for Felix.”

I ran inside the manor to grab my silver laptop, my blue hoodie, and threw on some black basketball shorts while I still wore Gabriel’s nightmare. I had a plan: leave my blue hoodie at Marinette’s just like the leather jacket. I wondered if she slept in my leather jacket. There had to be a reason she hadn’t returned it yet. I dreamed her all curled up in my beloved black leather jacket with her black hair falling all around.

“Where are you going?” Adrien asked as he entered the front door just as I was leaving.

“Um nowhere? I’ll see you later!” I ran past him and out the front gate before it closed. Again, I made it just in time. Adrien wouldn't be able to get out of the manor now. Not without alerting Natalie.

   
The walk to Marinette’s was a familiar comfort after exploring so much of Paris. I felt confident as I navigated the winding streets to her place and noticed all the storefronts I passed, one being that magic shop with Jueleka. I would have to visit her later.

I finally arrived and pushed the glass door open where the golden bell announced my arrival.

“Felix, how are you, my boy?’ Marinette’s dad called over his huge shoulder.

“I’m good, just gonna spend some time with Marinette.” I rubbed my neck.

“Oh, well she’s upstairs. Why don’t you head on up?” He called before he disappeared into the back.

I headed up the blue carpeted hallway to their apartment. I knocked on the door then texted “Here.”

“Felix.” Marinette threw open the door with a gasp.

My eyes widened,“Is this a bad time?” I took in her ragged appearance and messy pigtails.

“No, I just need a break.” She rubbed her eyes.

“Happy to provide said break.” I winked and took her arm. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

“About five hours. At least I think. Tikki is really the one who’s suffering. I kept her up super late, and she hasn’t even woken up yet.” She yawned.

“Well taking nap is on the agenda for our hangout day.” I led us up the narrow stairs.

“No, that’s just boring. Besides I want you to get me into anime.”

“Why?” I set up the laptop on her pink bed, and noticed she looked flushed when I did.

“Because it’s what Adrien and you like.” She scuffed her socked foot along the wooden floor.

“You mean what Adrien likes?” I said sourly. I shouldn’t have expected anything different.

“You like it too.” Marinette watched me with interest as I climbed onto her bed.

“Are you coming?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Ye-yeah.” Marinette climbed the wooden ladder and crawled in next to me. Her face was red. She left an awkward gap between us.

Weird, I thought. I opened the laptop and pulled up the show I knew she’d like. “This is a super girly one that I think you’ll like. The main character looks like you.” I pulled up Kiss Him, Not Me.

Marinette watched intently, “Hey, I am not fat!” She crossed her arms over her stomach.

“She gets hot. Just watch.” I moved closer to Marinette.

“Why would she ship guys when she has all these hot guys fawning over her!” Marinette said in an exasperated tone. "That seems silly to me."

“Guess that’s what makes it funny.” I sat still. In reality, I knew nerd girls like that who shipped dudes together. They were crazy weird and wrote even weirder fanfiction. Probably wrote fanfiction about Tiger and Chat getting together. Those stories probably lurked somewhere on ao3. Not that I've ever visited that site. Phffftt, no way.

I turned my focus back to Marinette. The more involved Marinette got in the show, the more she moved closer to me until her head rested on my right shoulder. “I like this.” Marinette smiled.                            

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I fought the urge. “I figured you would.”

“Her hair is so cute! Can we watch the next one!” Marinette pressed the next button without a response from me.

“Of course.” I really wanted to have her head under my chin with my arms around her.

“Can you fix my hair like hers?” Marinette asked as she dug herself into the crook of my neck.

“I’ll give it my best.” I half smiled. I felt the warmth of my back on my right side. My heart pounded as I realized I may get my wish today after all. I wanted to lift her into my lap, but I couldn’t. That would freak her out.

“The show wasn’t that bad when I ignored all the parts I hated.” The blonde guy Nana said. Wise dude in my opinion.

“I want her to end up with him.” Marinette grinned. “Or the green sweater guy, whatever his name is.”

“Because he looks like Adrien?” I felt a wave of jealousy pinch at my heart.

Marinette didn’t respond for awhile, “He looks like Adrien, but he reminds me of you.”

“How?” I felt Marinette inch closer.

“He’s like if you and Adrien were combined into one person.”

“So you think I’m shallow?” I teased, but secretly wondered if she thought it was true.

“Well, you haven’t given me much to contradict that observation.” She elbowed me. “You’re the one who was all over Ms. Victoria’s Secret fashion model.” Marinette pressed her left leg over mine. The laptop bumped at her adjustment.

“Huh?”

“I saw the perfume add. Adrien told me you were shooting a commercial with her this week.”

“If I didn’t know better, I would be inclined to believe Ms. Dupain-Cheng is jealous.” I stared at her face.

“I am not jealous of her. She’s the Peacock after all. I’m just worried you’ll end up getting hurt.” Her words tumbled off her soft pink lips that formed a pout.

“Don’t worry, I’m a crime-fighting vigilante now. I can handle her.” I leaned my chin over her head. I hoped she would just get the hint and sit on my lap. I could just angle the laptop on my knees.

“Ugh, you made me miss her date with the Nana! Go back.” She bumped her back against my chest as she slid into my lap.

I secured her head and snaked my arms around her. “Can't miss the best part.” I smiled into her hair. My heart thudded painfully as I realized I was beginning to fall too deep-maybe I already was. This also was going to hurt  If it ended.

  **Adrien**

 Felix wasn’t home all afternoon, and my shoot was moved to tomorrow. I texted him five times, but figured he was off after Abigail somewhere. That was until I got a text from Alya.

“Hey, are you hanging out with Marinette, Felix, and I today?”

That dick! “What time?”

“I won’t be over till 4, but Felix is already over there I think. Mari hasn’t answered me yet.”

“Plagg, we’re leaving now!” I stormed out of my room.

“Ugh, why do we have to do anything today? I’m exhausted.” Plagg bounced in my pocket as I stomped angrily to get my orange converses on. “What’s your deal?”

“Felix is totally hanging out with Marinette alone.”

“Probably in her bed too.” Plagg yawned.

My heart stopped. “He better not be!”

“Why? It’s not like you and Marinette are official. Felix is pretty attractive, and I always thought girls liked guys with experience.”

My face burned, “We can’t be official yet. It’s only been like two weeks! Marinette isn’t like that Plagg.”

“Felix sure doesn’t wait to be official before diving on her bed. Alone. Her parents too busy to notice the noises coming from her room like the sound of a bed creaking."

I bopped Plagg with my middle finger to shove him into my jacket pocket. “He is not in her bed! He knows I like her.” My heart raced as I realized he might indeed be in her room. Alone. He seemed like the kind of guy that girls just wanted to ‘do’ stuff with. Maybe Plagg was right, I grimaced in sheer horror. Maybe Marinette did want to do stuff with him! “Natalie, I need to go to Marinette’s,” I announced as I stood in front of her desk.

“I’ll call your driver.”

I nodded to Natalie then ran out the front door. I jumped up and down while I waited for Gorilla to pull up. “Marinette’s please.” I slid onto the beige leather.

He nodded and pulled out of the driveway. I noticed my father was watching me leave from the master bedroom window. “That’s weird.”

“What?” Plagg peeked over my pocket.

“Father watched me leave.”

“He was home? I thought he was at work.”

“Maybe his meeting ended early.”

“Maybe.” I jiggled my knees as we pulled up to Marinette’s place. “Thank you!” I ran out of the car and then through the side wooden door upstairs to Marinette’s place. “He’s not in her bed, he’s not in her bed. I’m the one she likes.” I repeated aloud. I took a deep breath and knocked on her door.

Felix was the one to answer. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” I glared.

Felix ‘s arm blocked the entrance as he leaned down to me, “I don’t need your permission to hang out with her.”

“You will soon.” The words leapt out before I fully understood what I met. What’s wrong with me, I scolded myself. Marinette is a person who can make her own choices.

“Marinette can make her own choices.” Felix glared and removed his arm. “Marinette, Adrien is here.” Felix turned and headed back into her kitchen.

“Adrien?” She shrieked. I watched her puzzled as she stumbled upstairs. “I’ll be right back!”

I saw flashes of skin as I realized Marinette was in pink pajama shorts. A large blue hoodie hung around her shoulders before she disappeared through the trapdoor. I recognized that hoodie. “Why is she wearing your hoodie?”

“She was cold.” Felix shrugged and shoved a croissant into his mouth.

I puffed my chest up, “Why would you have a hoodie? I thought you wanted to show off your ridiculous shirt to piss off father.”

“I didn’t realize you needed a play by play of my wardrobe choices.”

“I know what you're doing Felix, and I won’t let you hurt her. She’s not just one of your flings.”

“Who said she was?” Felix’s face remained neutral as he kept eating.

“I know how you are with girls, and I’m not going to let you hurt her because I-I lov-”

“Hey, sorry I had to change.” Marinette emerged from her room. Her hair was in braided pigtails that laid on her shoulders, the pink tank top bared her narrow shoulders, and she had on cute floral jean shorts that made me stare at her legs..

My heart pounded,“H-hey Marinette. I really like your hair.” I touched one of her braids as I stared into her beautiful blue eyes.

“Oh thanks. Felix did it.” She smiled.

My hand twitched, “Oh, did he? I wonder where you learned to style hair Felix.” I turned to glare at him.

“Just full of surprises.” Felix flashed a smug smile. I watched him watch her. Anger burned inside me, so I stepped in front of his view just to spite him.

“I appreciate it Felix. I wish I could do my own hair, but it never turns out right.” Marinette walked over to the croissants and cookies by Felix. “What did you guys want to do?”

Felix made a suggestive face and Marinette shoved him in return.

“How about we play a game?” I spat out. A game that would keep them separated.

“That sounds fun.” Marinette turned towards her couch. “What about Mecha Strike 3?”

Felix and I glared at each other. “I’ll go first!” We said at the same time. “No, I’ll go first! You can go after!” We both leaned into one another.

“I’m older.”

“Well I’m younger so I should get what I want.” What a weak excuse, I thought.

“That makes you the brat of the family.”

“Beats being the giraffe of the family.”

“I’m 6’2”!”

“Uh guys, are we going to play?” Marinette held the controller in her hands.

“Me first!” We shoved at each other as we fumbled closer.

“You guys just go first, and I’ll play the winner.” Marinette smiled and handed both controllers to us.

“It’s on.” I glared at Felix.

“Prepare to regret those words brother.”


	21. Felix and Adrien make up...for now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Felix and Adrien visit with Marinette, and resolve their differences for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm glad for all the support <3
> 
> You learn some pieces of both Adrien's and Felix's life before they were together.

**Adrien**

I chewed my bottom lip as I leaped onto Marinette’s balcony. "Evening princess."

"Chat Noir, what brings you to my humble balcony?" Marinette moved her sketchpad onto her little white table. She pulled a cup of coffee or cocoa to her chest.

"Just passing through, and wondered how you were doing. I hadn’t stopped by in awhile." I pulled a flower out of my clawed hand that I plucked on the way here. "A rose fitting for such a beautiful princess."

"Chat, I don’t know what I’m going to do with all your flowers." Marinette blushed setting the pink rose by her sketches.

"How has the designing been going?"

"Challenging, but great. I’ve been meaning to ask Mr. Agreste for pointers."

"Oh?" I leaned in casually. "From my experience, he isn’t the friendliest of people. Ladybug and I saved his ass last year, and he didn’t so much as give us a thank you."

"Well, that’s why I was going to have Felix get some tips for me."

I clenched the railing, "He’ll view that as weakness. Princess, people like Gabriel Agreste frown upon any inkling of weaknesses. You’ll have to woman up and ask for yourself."

"I know." Marinette placed her head in her lap. "It’s just intimidating."

"You seem distraught." I sat beside her.

"Well Chat, there’s just a lot going on lately. Actually, since this summer started." Her voice rose in pitch.

"Oh?" I stared at her beauty through half-lidded eyes. I could help calm her down from whatever ledge-

"Guy drama. Well at least I think it’s guy drama involving me, but I can’t be sure. Guys never seem to notice me." Marinette pressed herself to her knees as she set her cup aside.

I almost lost my balance. "Je ne crois pas que," I whispered as I leaned closer to her playing off my almost face plant into her railing.

"Well, the guy I’ve had a crush on for a whole year finally starts being interested in me, but then…" Mari turned her head up to the sky. "Never mind, it’s not important."

My face paled, "No, no, no. You can trust a superhero to keep secrets Marinette." I let out a shaky laugh, "If it's important to you then it's important to me. It sounds awfully important."

"I know Chat." She ruffled my hair. "I’m going to turn in for the night." 　　

"Marinette, wait!"

She turned to face me.

I lifted my hand like I wanted her to grab it. "Just...follow your heart and everything will be okay." I pulled it back to my chest. Marinette was smart. Marinette at least had a crush on me. Why else would she blush when I was around or go on walks with me? Come to my photoshoots-of course she had to like me.

Marinette smiled and disappeared inside.

I stood there for a long while after with an empty feeling. Marinette was confused now, and this was all Felix’s fault.

 

**Felix**

 

I patrolled the opposite side of Paris. I stopped a mugging, but nothing else happened. I waited for Adrien to show up. A horrible guilt crashed over me as I realized I probably ruined our whole relationship in one afternoon. I shouldn't have been such a jerk.

Marinette was worth it though. Her back nestled on my chest, her cute laugh, her annoyed glares, and just all of her…"Is so amazing."

"Hey."

"Ladybug!" I almost tripped in surprise.

"You can call me by my real name you know." Marinette strode in front of me.

"I know, but I need to stay in the habit of not giving you away to...Chat."

"Yeah, I guess he is a problem." She grinned at me.

"He’s not all bad."

"You know I’ve been thinking a lot lately…" Her voice trailed off as she avoided my gaze.

"About what?"

"You." Her blue eyes were turned down.

My heart thudded. "Oh?" I rested my arm against the chimney wall. I did my best to look sexy. It worked.

Marinette blushed, "Would you stop that. I mean I’ve just been thinking about getting to know you better. I don’t even know your favorite color."

"Blue, and what do you think about when you’re dreaming of me?" I smirked, but felt like I might have been too flirtatious.

"Shut up." She shoved me off the chimney glaring at me.

"Have you been thinking of me during your shower time?" I cocked my right brow.

"Stop with the shower jokes!" Her face flushed with anger and she pointed a finger at me. "I’m regretting coming out here now. If I wanted to be teased, I would have just stayed with Chat."

"Oh don’t be like that Mari." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"Fine, so why did you come to France?"

"Hey, you ask a question and then it’s my turn. That’s normally how 20 questions works. So what’s your favorite color? I can only assume it’s pink."

"It’s pink. Now answer my question." She commanded.

I hated playing twenty questions with a girl. I never knew what they were going to ask of me, "Well It’s my senior year and I wanted to get a taste of freedom."

"And?"

"Okay, and I wanted to meet Adrien and see a bunch of French girls." I rolled my eyes.

"Figures." Marinette pouted dejected.

"Hey, I’m being honest. When did you start liking Adrien?" The question I had been dying to ask since we met tumbled out.

"Oh." Marinette’s face went red. "It was beginning of last year and Adrien, well after I knew he wasn’t trying to put gum on my seat, handed me his umbrella when it was raining. I realized how nice he was, and it just happened…" Marinette brushed a strand of hair behind her mask.

"Oh, that sounds um-" I covered my mouth trying not to laugh.

"That’s not funny! I’m not going to play if you’re just going to laugh at me." She huffed.

"You’re the one who wanted to play. Fine, you can ask a mean one."

"Have you ever been in love?"

I rolled my eyes, "Why did you have to ask that one?" It was my turn to huff. I placed my hands on my hips prepared for the onslaught of questions after my answer. "No, I haven’t. Why do girls always want to know that?" I shook my head.

"You’ve never been in love?" Marinette scrunched her face in disbelief.

"I haven’t found anyone worth the consideration until recently." Fuck….

"Oh?" Marinette asked a little too casually. Very unlike her.

"Never mind, let’s just go punch stuff." I stomped to the other side of the roof only to realize the other side was too far away.

"Need a hand Tiger?"

"Yes." I crossed my arms embarrassed. "Can you even lift me?"

Marinette pressed herself against my chest, "I think I can manage." She grinned before she shoved me towards the roof’s edge.

"What are you doing?" I peered down at her afraid to take another step backward.

"Oh, don’t be such a baby. Trust me." She pressed her tiny form against me tightly urging me to back up off the roof.

I hadn’t noticed she already had her yo-yo wrapped around something on the other side. I took a deep breath, "I trust you."

 

**Adrien**

 

"Shouldn’t we go look for him?"

"No Plagg." I sat on my bed with my phone limp in my hand. Marinette hadn’t texted me, but she could already have been asleep. I almost texted Felix to ask him to hang out or to come back, but I knew he wouldn’t. I was still pissed, and he was too. Probably. I hadn’t fought with a brother before, much less had one. Who knew how long the fight would last?

"You knew I liked her, and you spent the whole afternoon alone with her!"

"So what? She can make her own decisions."

"I have had a crush on her for a whole year!"

"I thought you liked Ladybug!"

"I thought I did too, but it was really Marinette I liked!"

"You didn’t realize this until I started hanging out with her, right?"

"Yes!"

"Now you’re pissed because she likes me too! You’re such a brat."

"It’s all your fault! You have all these other girls after you, why can’t you go chase one of them?"

"Because I don’t want to! Why don’t you go chase your fangirls? Why don’t you go date, Chloe!"

When he said that, I punched him. My right fist stung a little on the knuckles- Felix hadn’t punched back. He stood there with clenched fists and glared, but all he said was "I’m going out."

"I’ll go out if he’s not back in an hour."

"That’s the sanest thing you’ve said all day."

   
 **Felix**

   
"And my face smacked the floor so hard, I thought I broke my nose." I laughed as I recalled my failure at rock climbing. "Everyone was so terrified like I died or something, but I was mortified about the whole thing."

"That is super embarrassing. You got a wedgie and a broken nose."

"Almost a broken nose." I corrected her.

"One time I had to steal Adrien’s phone after I left him a super embarrassing voicemail." Marinette covered her face.

"You gotta tell me." I elbowed her.

"Okay, so Tikki thought it was a great idea if I called Adrien to ask him out, so I invited Alya over. Basically, she wrote me a whole script, but I couldn’t do it and brutally messed up. I ended up babbling like a dorkasaurus left a voicemail with me calling him hot stuff. Hot stuff and admitted I drooled over him basically. It’s painful just to remember it." Marinette’s whole face burned a bright red.

"That’s not that bad." I brushed a piece of her hair back.

"I had to break into his locker, steal his phone, and I had to keep it for a whole day! I couldn’t figure out how to unlock his phone." Marinette peeked at me through her lashes.

I couldn’t stop the smile on my lips, "I approve of your methods. I got in trouble for trespassing when I was in middle school, and in high school. I also got in trouble for shoplifting, but I was framed for that."

"What?" Marinette leaned back and made a confused face.

"This guy was mad at me in middle school that his girlfriend had a crush on me, so when we hang out he put a bunch of stuff in my book bag without me knowing." I shrugged. "The security camera caught him doing. It’s not like I was in trouble for it for very long."

"That’s terrible! Chloe tried stealing my diary once, which would have been really bad. Don’t tell her your shoplifting story, she might get ideas about framing me for theft." Marinette pressed a finger to her chin, "Oh wait, she already tried that. She dropped her dumb bracelet somewhere and insisted that I stole it."

"I really don’t like that girl."

"Ugh, me either. I like you though." Marinette leaned against me.

I felt a blush creep over my cheeks, "I like you too short stack." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

Marinette didn’t say anything for awhile. "You’re complicating things you know."

"I have the tendency to do that a lot." I murmured. I stared out over Paris as the Eiffel tower lights twinkled. "Does this mean you’re going to kick me off the Eiffel tower now?"

"I might." Marinette sat up. "I haven’t decided yet."

Her face was dangerously close to mine. "Marinette." I leaned into her.

Marinette turned upwards gazing at me through her dark lashes. Her blue eyes sparkled, her lips parted, and I lost my breath.

"Ladybug, what’s going on?"

Marinette and I flew apart. "Chat, what are you doing here?" Marinette jumped up with her hands up awkwardly. "I thought you were busy tonight."

"Looking for Tiger. I’m glad he’s okay." Adrien’s voice was ice cold and his vibrant cat eyes narrowed at me.

"I should have gotten back to you." I rubbed the back of my neck. Fresh guilt flooded through me. Here I was almost kissing Marinette in front of him. Oh fuck, I'm gonna go to brother hell for this.

"Yeah, you should have. Let’s go." Adrien’s voice reminded me of Gabriel’s, only I could see the anger that simmered beneath. A really deep anger for such a fluffy cinnamon roll.

"I’ll see you guys later than. Chat, it wasn’t his fault. I made him stay with me." Marinette shot him an apologetic look.

I watched Marinette yo-yo away before I turned to Adrien. "It wasn’t what it looked like." Maybe he'd believe my lie?

"No Felix, it was exactly what it looked like! You’re trying to steal Marinette away from me and now you have Ladybug fawning all over you!" Adrien’s eyes watered through his mask as he shoved me. "Every since you got here, people have been comparing us! Do you know what it’s like to have you to compete with? Do you even know what it’s like to have to pretend to be perfect while you can just waltz onto the scene not giving a fuck about anyone but yourself!" Adrien screamed. "I’ve had to put up with modeling, piano, fencing, Mandarin and English lessons, and anything else father wanted me to do! My mom didn’t even stop him. Then she died and there was no one to stop him!" A tear leaked down his face. It shimmered in the lights. He was silent for two heartbeats. "No! Because your mom just lets you do whatever you wanted to. You could sleep with anyone you wanted, go anywhere you wanted, and be whoever you wanted! You’ve never had to be responsible for anything in your life!" His hysteria caused a group of tourists to turn upwards. Adrien shoved me again.

I tightened my calf trying to keep steady, "Dude, this is not the place to be shoving! And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put a girl between us. I didn’t know you felt like this." My stomach twisted with what I was about to do. "I’ll tell Marinette that we’ll just be friends. I think Ladybug and I have more in common anyway." I lied. I lied to Adrien and I was for sure going to brother hell now. Fuck, why the fuck did I do that?

Adrien turned his face away from me. "I spent a whole year chasing her, and she never looked at me like that. I shouldn’t have interrupted." His slumped forward. "I’m glad you're making progress."

"Adrien..." I had a distinct feeling I would be going to hell like actual hell for this lie. Not just brother hell.

"You’ll tell Marinette tomorrow?" Adrien faced me again. His green eyes made me want to drown in misery.

"Yeah, that’s what brothers are for." I fell-I was falling into a deeper and deeper hole of lies. Maybe this is what Hawk Moth wanted. I never did figure out what that picture of our parents met. I should have made that the focus. I shouldn’t have been after Marinette, no matter what my heart ached for. I barely even knew her, I scolded myself. I shouldn’t have been so stupid. 　

"Thank you." Adrien pulled me into a hug.

I hugged back half-heartedly, "Don’t thank me yet." I was a rotten liar. I was deceiving him, I would burn in hell for this betrayal, yet I couldn’t bring myself to totally end things with Marinette. Not till I talked with her.

"It’ll be cool to go on a double date with Ladybug." Adrien broke the hug and pushed my shoulder.

"That would be a disaster waiting to happen."


	22. Felix's Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix has his first commercial shoot with Abigail, and Adrien spends his day off with Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the great comments I got on the last chapter! <3 It motivated me to push through this chapter faster. 
> 
> The scene everyone was waiting for finally happens at the end guys! Well for Adrienette fans anyway. 
> 
> Reminder: Felix knows everyone's secret identities besides Hawk Moth. Marinette knows Felix's and Abigail's, but Adrien is left in the dark only knowing Felix's. Felix never got around to telling him about Abigail. 
> 
> Thanks for reading :)

**Felix**

   
The whole awful morning was a blur: Gabriel ordered me out the door, Adrien stated he was too busy to come, and Plagg dropped a giant book on my head then demanded to know when I would be telling Marinette we’re just friends.

“I will later.”

“I want it now. Adrien is my human, and I won’t have you upsetting his delicate nature by being an asshole.” Plagg smacked my head.

“Well sorry for existing or having feelings.”

“Oh please. You were just thinking with your dic-”

“Felix, you need to be downstairs in exactly sixty seconds! That car will leave with or without you.” Gabriel shut my door in an annoyed manner. It wasn’t a slam, but it wasn’t a gentle shut. “And quit talking to yourself. Everyone is going to start thinking you're crazy.”

   
The entire drive, Gabriel talked my ear off. He kept bugging me about the fight Adrien and I had yesterday.

“I heard shouting.” He nagged.

“It was nothing.” I shrugged. I leaned my chin on my elbow and stared out the window.

“Was it over Chloe? Did you get that singer to take her?”

“Adrien is handling that.”

“Was it over Marinette?”

My face burned, “No! Why would you think that? She’s just a friend.” I pressed my cheek against the glass.

“Then why were you yelling at each other?” Gabriel’s tone sounded condescending.

“Were you and my mom dating?” I changed the subject to the picture I found due to Hawk Moth’s task. I turned back to face Gabriel.

He seemed displeased by my question. “For a time.”

“Why would you tell Adrien it was just a one night stand then?”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed, “To protect him, which is exactly what you are going to do.” Gabriel leaned close to me. “Why are you asking this?”

“I was just curious. You seemed to love Mrs. Agreste very much, and Adrien told me it was always love at first sight.” I recalled the tale he told me. His face was so earnest, his green eyes so wide as he stared at the picture of his mother, but, to me, it now seemed wrong. Why would they be at a bar with separate dates? Gabriel looked perfectly happy with my mom, but Adrien’s mom looked with...yearning. Her hand reached towards Gabriel with eyes wide with yearning. Her shoulder had been turned away from her date, whoever that was. She obviously hadn't been interested in him.

Gabriel’s grey eyes dimmed, “It was.” His response sounded robotic.

“Then why would you go to a bar with separate dates?” I had to get answers, and something about this was fishy. Something in this picture would give me a clue as to what Hawk Moth wanted.

“What on Earth are you talking about?”

“I saw a picture of you in a bar. You were with my mom, and Adrien’s mom was with some other guy-”

“That’s enough Felix. I don’t want to hear any more.” Gabriel picked up his phone.

I narrowed my eyes, “I’ll tell you about the fight with Adrien if you give me answers.”

“I already know the fight was about Marinette. You have feelings for her, and Adrien is jealous.” Gabriel typed something on his phone that looked like an email. “You should really be more considerate. Adrien is emotional. He’s not like you or me.”

Gabriel’s words made me flinch. “So I’m not emotional?”

Gabriel’s face turned into a confused expression, “Other than wanting to be irritating no.”

I frowned, “Ghee, thanks, dad.”

“I’m simply being honest. You should take Adrien’s lead on being more responsible, and not asking intrusive questions.”

“Intrusive? I’m trying to figure-” I closed my mouth. If Gabriel was Hawk Moth, why did I get the feeling that my question really did throw him off? Wouldn’t he be expecting it if he was? “I wanted to know why you had a butterfly garden.”

“Mrs.Agreste loved butterflies, and I enjoy them as well. I maintain the garden in her memory.” Gabriel’s voice wavered at the end of the sentence.

I gazed at his face as he turned to his phone, “Did you love her? You have a lot of paintings of her.”

“Of course I loved her. Why would you question it otherwise?” His voice turned hard and he glared.

My gut disagreed, “Why would I indeed dad. Why indeed.”

 

**Adrien**

   
“I just don’t-” I took a deep breath, “I don’t want you hanging out with him alone Marinette.” I pushed my cup along the line indented on the black table. “He’s older than you, and he isn’t-his motives maybe…” I cast my eyes down.

“Adrien, I’m touched you’re worried about me.” Marinette blushed, “But, Felix isn’t like that. He’s not going to take advantage of our friendship.”

Friendship. That word dispelled my doubts, “Oh.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at me, “Oh?” She covered her mouth to giggle, "What does that mean?"

“I mean I didn’t realize that um…” I felt my whole face flush. I had never felt so embarrassed. “Good, I’m glad we talked about this. So did you want to go to Nino’s gig on Saturday with me?”

“I would love to go with you.” Marinette flashed me a giddy grin, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

My heart pounded, “Yes?” I moved my face closer to hers.

“Would you want to travel this summer...together? Felix is only in Europe for the summer, we should go to Germany or Italy together for a weekend getaway.” Mari’s bluebell eyes shimmered.

My face fell a little. “Oh, I’d have to check with father on that one. Maybe Felix could convince him too.” I ran my finger over the grainy table. “He’d never say yes if I asked. He still thinks of me as a child.” I frowned.

Marinette said nothing, but she covered my hand with hers.

“Marinette, I want to tell you something important when the time is right.” I bit my lip. I shouldn’t have said that.

She shivered under my gaze and turned away, “I would like that.” She squeezed my hand. “I just want to enjoy...this right now.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Alright.” I squeezed her hand back. “It can wait.”

   
 **Felix**  
 

“What are you trying to do, drown me!” I shouted when I burst through the waves.

“I’m doing the same thing I did last time!” Abigail splashed me. Her face was twisted in a snarl. “You’re the one who keeps breaking the kiss!”

“Because you’re dragging me under the water like a demon mermaid from Harry Potter!”

“Because you’re acting like you’re kissing a fucking potato!” Abigail dug her nails into my arm. “What is with you!” She screeched very unattractively.

“Break time. Let’s pick it up in twenty.” The director called. He seemed tense about our fight and proceeded to slosh through the water towards Gabriel.

“We need to have a talk.” Abby dragged me towards shore.

The worst sentence in history a female could utter burned my ears. “What about?”

“You’re acting like I have leprosy! I am a hot seventeen-year-old international vogue model and you are not responding properly!” Her green eyes were narrowed into slits. “Is there someone else?” Abigail shoved me in the sand. “I swear I will claw her eyes out. Just wait till I find out where she lives. I know you’re seeing someone!”

I found her temper was oddly arousing. “What are you going on about?” I bit my lip to keep from laughing at her.

“You are! I knew it!” She slammed her foot on mine. “You aren’t even kissing me like you did when we went to the beach.” She crossed her arms her face falling. “Are you really seeing some other girl already? Is that why you wouldn’t-wouldn’t-” Her voice sounded sobby.

“Please don’t cry.”

“I-I’m-not.” Tears rolled down her face.

“Felix, why is she crying!” Gabriel’s voice boomed behind me.

Fuck. “She um stubbed her toe?”

“Your son is an idiot!” Abigail turned and ran away towards her tent.

“What did you do?” The angry glare behind his glasses and the way he yanked me towards Abigail's tent told me that he was not playing this time around.

“I didn’t do anything. She kept insisting that I wasn’t kissing her right!”

“If you ruin this for the Agreste family, I will lock you away for the entire summer. Go apologize, and I want you to kiss her like she’s the love of your life.” Gabriel shoved me towards her tent. “Or you won’t see Marinette for the rest of the summer. I'll make sure of it.” He hissed. 

I slumped towards her tent. “Abigail,” I called and almost knocked on her tent flap before I realized that was stupid. “Abigail, what is this really about?” I moved the tent door.

“I told you stupid!” She threw sand at me.

“Why does everyone throw stuff at me when they’re angry!” I snapped.

“Because you’re such a jerk!” She shouted.

“What? Because I wouldn’t have sex with you?”

Her angry green eyes glowered at me, and I knew I said the wrong thing. “You stupid, stupid, horrible, idiot, idiot boy-” Abigail stomped towards me sputtering.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed her wrist.

“Let go you douche bag.” She growled. "You-you jackass!"

I pulled her to my chest. “Just let it all out.”

“You’re such an asshole! I hate you, and-and-” She sobbed. “Why would you-you pick Ladybug!” She punched me. “I saw you two kiss on the Eiffel tower.” She slapped my face.

“We didn’t!” Adrien made sure of that, I thought bitterly. “Why were you spying anyway?”

“I was looking for you! I hadn’t seen you in a couple days.” She pushed me away. “I was worried.”

“You could have texted me.”

“You should have texted me!” She had her red hair slap my face as she turned.

“I’ll make note to do that from now on,” I muttered. “Look, I just think we should take things slow. Why is that so wrong?”

“You were the one trying to sleep with me when we first met!” Her elbow met my ribs.

“And you keep beating me!” I stepped back.

“Because you're so frustrating!”

“How am I frustrating? I haven’t done anything!”

“Did you ever think that maybe I was attracted to you the first time I saw you just how you were attracted to me when you saw me at the cosplay convention!”

“Huh?” I thought back to that day. She was awfully nice to me when we flirted. I clearly left Abigail with the wrong impression that day. “Oh...right.”

“What was that?” She seethed.

“I meant oh right as in I totally remember what you’re referring to. Me liking you. A whole, whole lot.” I grabbed her shoulders. “I’m sorry I’m a huge jerk. I am literally the worst person on this Earth, and I beg you for the humblest of forgiveness.” I kneeled on one knee. “I propose a partnership of mutual forgiveness and understanding.” I grinned up at her.

“Just that?” She sniffed. Her small nose red from crying. Her green eyes a bright spring green.

“Well I may not fully be ready yet, but I’m sure we can work in some other arrangements in there.” I winked.

“Maybe.” She threw her arms around me. She pressed her lips over mine, and we shared a shy kiss. “Oh, if I see you with Ladybug again, I’m gonna kill her.” She kissed fiercely and grabbed a fist full of my hair.

“Um, here’s a crazy idea.” I broke the kiss shortly after. “You could not do that, and could join us on our crusade to defeat Hawk Moth.”

“Would you cut that out. It’s seriously annoying.” She nibbled my earlobe.

I turned my head to stop her, “Why did you join him anyway?” I jerked when she tried to unzip my wet jeans.

“Does it matter right now?” She bit my lip suggestively.

“Yes.”

“Ugh, if I tell you can we mess around then?”

“We only have like five more minutes alone.”

“After then?” Her green eyes looked pleadingly into mine.

Guilt twisted inside me again. “We’ll see.”

“Fine, but the story is simple. Hawk Moth found me and gave me the means to get revenge, and to bring back what I have lost.” Her face appeared serious.

“That’s cryptic.”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Abigail pressed herself against me. “I should do the scene topless.” Her hand reached to unhook her lace bra.

“No, no let’s not do that.” I grabbed both her hands.

“Are you jealous? You don’t want other men to see me like that.” She leaned into me.

“Well my dad is out there, and him seeing your boobs would kill anything between us.” I stood up.

“Oh, that’s right.” She rubbed her neck awkwardly.

“Let’s go.” I held her slim hand and placed my fingers to interlock with hers. When we emerged from the tent, everyone stared. I felt self-conscious but noticed that Gabriel watched us intently. He raised an eyebrow at me that suggested he would have more questions for me on the car ride home, and probably a lecture. “Great,” I muttered. If he gave me the talk about safe sex, I was gonna lose it.

 

**Adrien**

   
“Wow, your room is awesome.” Marinette blushed. “This is my first-first time seeing it.” She scrunched her cute nose up.

“Normally when you do the nose thing Marinette, it means you're lying.”

“No, it doesn’t!” She gasped. “I just have an itch.”

“Oh well allow me.” I pressed my lips to her nose. I leaned back and smiled at Mari’s face.

Her face was completely red, “T-t-than-thank-w-why?”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. Her soft pink lips moved under mine and I wrapped my arm around her neck. “I think I fixed your stutter too.” I smiled against her lips.

“A-Adrien…” Her face wasn’t red anymore. She looked pale.

“Are you okay with this?” I took a step back and wondered if I crossed a line.

“Do it again. Please.” She wrapped her fist around my shirt. Her bluebell eyes glowed under the afternoon sun that streamed through my window.

I memorized the glow of her cheeks, the sheen in her eyes, the parting of her of lips as she tilted her eyes upward, and the warmth of her hands on my chest. “Of course princess.” I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her again.

 


	23. Adrien's Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien hangs out with Nino and Alicio, Nino's cousin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alicio is an interesting character that I really had fun coming up with. He's going to bring a lot of humor in the upcoming chapters plus additional information that leads to some very important intel. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this fun chapter! Thanks for all the support.

**Adrien**

 “Do you think your cousin can help? I mean I kissed Marinette two days ago, but she hasn’t even texted me back.” I slumped in Nino’s chair. “Well she has, but it’s all just one-word answers.” 

“She’s hanging out with Alya and Felix today. Probably give her some space.” Nino texted Alya back.

“Oh.” I slumped even lower. I thought if I kissed her she wouldn’t be interested in him anymore, yet all she ever did since I kissed her two days ago was reach out to Felix and Alya.

“Dude, my cousin is a wiz when it comes to the ladies. He’ll have you hooked up in no time.”

Just then, a dude in ripped black skinny jeans, a faded grey tee shirt, a black leather jacket, and the smell of cigarettes that wafting through the air appeared in the living room. “Hey, I’m Alicio Lahiffe.” The guy was tall, thin, and had shaggy tawny colored hair with maroon colored tips. He looked like he'd be a rock star. He had tons of piercings along his ears and one on his lip.

“Adrien Agreste. I’m a huge fan.” I shook his hand.

“Oh, I bet.” Alicio grasp my hand longer than I shook it. “What are the odds that my cousin would be friends with two of the hottest male blondes on the planet.” Alicio flashed me a dangerous smile.

“Huh?” I stared wide-eyed at him.

“Oh, you are so fine Mr. Agreste, but too young for me. Where is your brother?” His thumb lifted my chin up so he could examine me.

“He’s busy right now.” I felt my face burn. I'd never had a guy act so...interested in me.

“Um Alicio, I asked you to help with lady problems.” Nino gapped from the couch.

“Of course, dear cousin. That doesn’t mean I cannot admire Adrien while giving advice.” Alicio gazed at me like he would a steak. “I just get carried away by such beauty sometimes. I apologize Adrien.” His hand trailed down my neck.

“No-no problem.” I jumped back.

Alicio walked over and dropped on the other side of Nino’s couch. “So what’s the problem? I can’t imagine you having lady troubles.” He leaned his head in the palm of his hand as he gazed at me with golden brown eyes.

“Um well the girl I like is super cute, but she’s confused.”

“Oh, confused about another man?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s an easy fix for you, I’m sure of it.” He licked his lips.

“Um well she’s interested in my brother-well it seems like it. She’s always hanging out with him.”

Alicio sat up. “I must observe them together before I create a plan of attack.” He spread his legs and placed both hands on his knees. “Where are they?”

“Hold on.” Nino scrolled through his phone. “They’re at the park with the girl that Marinette babysits.”

“We must go now.” Alicio jumped up and ran out the door.

“He’s certainly...energetic.”

“I had no idea he went both ways. I mean I guess I always kind of thought, he snuck a bunch of people backstage once...I heard a bunch of noises.” Nino’s eyes widened. “Oh my god!” He covered his mouth and paled.

It took me a moment to realize what he just realized. “You want me to get advice from him! I could have just asked Felix.” I hissed.

“Um, boys? I have no idea where I’m going.” Alicio leaned in the doorway.

“It’s just the park around the block. We can just walk there.” Nino shook his head and followed after his cousin. “Hey, how long have you been interested in both parties. Not like I care, but I always thought you were the biggest womanizer.”

“Oh, my innocent cousin.” Alicio wrapped his long arm around him. “I’ve always been interested in both. You could say I’m promiscuous, but I’m sure one day I’ll find the right one.” He turned to wink at me.

I almost fell on my face as I tripped over the next step.

“Dude, you can’t just do that to Adrien. He gets scared easily by...stuff.”

“Oh my goodness! I haven’t met a virgin as hot as you in a long time! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize what an innocent cinnamon roll I was speaking to.” Alicio wrapped me up in his other arm. “Forgive me, Adrien.” His lips were dangerously close to mine.

“Forgiven,” I said quickly. I felt so...self-conscious. People normally didn’t fawn over me in a sexual manner to my face.

“I promise I am very charming company.” He smiled licking his lower lip.

“Oh, look we’re here.” Nino pulled his cousin off me.

“Is that...him!” Alicio’s hands smacked both sides of his face as he gaped at Felix.

“Yes,” I replied neutrally. I watched Felix swing the little girl around as he pretended to be a monster or something.

“I’ve never been one to fawn over someone who’s good with kids, but oh my.” Alicio fanned his face. For some reason, this guy reminded me of a mixture of Grell and Prince Soma from Black Butler.

“Why are you so weird right now?” Nino shook his head in disbelief. “You’re acting super weird today.”  

“Because I am about to talk to my dream boy that I have been staring at since the July issue of Vogue came out!” Alicio whipped the worn issue out of his bag. “He’s perfect!” Alicio’s eyes flashed hungrily.

“Um…” I cringed. Was I about to sick this guy on Felix? I thought back to him at Marinette’s place...alone.

“Well besides for you Adrien. But, you’re just so young.” Alicio patted my head. “Now you introduce me, and I need to observe.” Alicio licked his lips, “Thoroughly.” 

“I thought Swimming with Sharks was just the name of the band.” I elbowed Nino.

“I guess it was just a metaphor for Alicio’s insatiable lust.” Nino shivered. “I feel so weird right now. This is my childhood idol who wants to do you.”

“Adrien!” Marinette squeaked once she saw us.

“H-hey.” I smiled. The whole situation fell away as I watched her walk over to me with blush on her cheeks. Blush was a good sign.

“This is Nino’s cousin.”

“Oh, my gosh! You’re Alicio!” Alya held up her phone. “Can I get an interview later?” Alya squealed.

“Of course, I always make time for family. But, first I must meet that man over there.” Alicio bit his thumb as he gazed hungrily at Felix.

“Hey, Felix!”

Felix turned slowly with Manon on his back. “Yeah?”

“This is Nino’s cousin!” She pointed at Alicio.

“Great to meet you.” Felix jogged over.

“Oh, the pleasure's all mine.”

  
**Felix**

   
The lead singer eyed me in a weird manner. I ignored his gaze and turned to Adrien and Marinette who were eye locked.

Pain cut at my heart. I turned back to Nino’s cousin. “I’m a pretty big fan. I went to one of your concerts back in 2014 when you came to Chicago.”

“Before our first big hit! You must be a big fan, I am Alicio Lahiffe.” Alicio grabbed my hand and pulled me unusually close.

“Um, Felix F-Agreste. Felix Agreste.” I said in a sad tone. I knew this guy would be expecting that last name for me. That’s what Gabriel wanted me to call myself anyway.

“I’ll be happy to learn more about you Felix.” Alicio ran his thumb over my wrist.

I furrowed my brow, “Good to know…” I pulled my hand back.

“So, who is this...delightful child.” Alicio’s eye twitched.

“That’s Manon, I’m her babysitter.” Marinette peeled Manon off my back. “Alya and I better get going. Bye you guys, I’ll see you after I’m done babysitting.” Marinette waved to the group and left with Alya.

I narrowed my eyes in frustration, I knew this is what Adrien wanted. Marinette told me about the kiss to my dismay. But, the weird thing was that she hadn’t babbled about him like she usually did. Marinette hardly mentioned him after she told me that yesterday. But, she certainly had a lot of questions for me about random stuff: what’s my favorite fruit, why don’t I like pineapples, what was living in the United States like, and questions about my mom.

“So Felix, I hear you’re going to the Gala with that Abigail model. She is certainly a pretty thing. I’ve always had a thing for redheads.” Alicio grinned. “Maybe you could introduce us.”

“Oh Abby, yeah I can. She’s just as fiery as her hair though.” A sad smiled played on my lips.

“Is she? I always heard she was temperamental about things when I tried my hand at modeling. I guess that’s all you can expect from an orphan.” Alicio sighed in a bored tone.

“Huh?” I turned to him confused.

“You didn’t know? Her parents died in Paris a couple of years ago. Abigail was modeling for something, and I guess there was a car accident. At least that’s what I heard when I lived here.” Alicio’s gaze on my body made me feel like I was a Big Mac in front of a starving man. “You should come visit my place in Maratea, I’m right on the beach. That’s my favorite home at the moment.” 

What a weird thing to bring up after talking about orphans, “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Marinette had the best idea! We should travel this summer.” Adrien jumped up excited. “I’ve never been to Maratea, Italy.”

Alicio moved his arm close to mine, “You could bring Abigail. I’d love to meet her.”

Why did I feel like he wanted to do more than just meet her? “Sure, I can invite her along.” Dear god why is this happening? Abigail threatened to kill Marinette, although I doubted she really would. My lips curled, ugh what if she wasn’t kidding.  I’d have to play the boyfriend just to get her to stop, which would ruin any chances of me and Marinette.

“Damaged beauties are always so fascinating to me. It reminds me of the broken glass with sunshine glimmering through the jagged edges.” Alicio’s hand brushed mine. 

“Why don’t we go do something?” Nino suggested as he grabbed Alicio’s arm.

“So specific dude. What do you want to do?” Adrien tossed his hair off his neck.

“Why don’t we go play some basketball?” I suggested.

“Oh, I’ll just watch them. I’m very bad at it.” Alicio laughed.

“What about video games?” Adrien turned back to stare at us.

“I’m much better at that.” Alicio leaned towards me, “I’ll play with Felix.” His dark lashes fluttered.

“You mean play against?” I blinked.

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”

  **Adrien**

 We played hours of video games before dinner. “Hey, Nino can you bring up the gala to Alicio.”

“About that dude…” Nino rubbed the back of his neck.

“He didn’t say no?” I whined and hoped he didn’t say that.

“Well he said he would do it, but he wants a date with Felix in return.” Nino’s face looked conflicted. “You wouldn’t really trade him just to go with Marinette.” Nino’s eyebrow raised in question.

“Of course I would. I mean it’s not like Felix wouldn’t do it.”

“Dude, that’s very chloeish of you.”

“No, it’s not. Felix would want to help Marinette and I get together. That’s what brothers are for.” I quoted him like he’s said this a dozen times.

“You’re selling your brother to my cousin for an evening with Marinette?” Nino smacked my head. “No!”

“Well convince him to not want the date then.”

“Do you know how hard that will be? He’s enamored with the guy! He thinks he’s the best thing since the croissant.”

“It’s probably the fact he’s American.” Maybe Marinette just liked him for his accent. “Let me talk to him.”

“I think that’s just going to make things worse.” Nino grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey Felix, we need to go. Just wait for me in the car.” I yanked Felix off the couch, and away from a lusty Alicio who looked ready to pin him to the couch and tear off all his clothes.

“Yep, I’ll be there!” Felix practically ran out of the room.

“Alicio, Nino told me what you wanted.”

Alicio raised a perfectly trimmed brow, “Oh?” He leaned back casually with his t-shirt riding up, "Do you agree?"

“And I...I will let Felix know. It’s only fair after all, a date for a date.” The lie gutted me and went against everything I believed in. I couldn’t just trade Felix like that. But, I would. I would for Marinette.

Alicio flashed me a wide smile that reminded me of a shark that just smelled blood, “How true. I look forward to my date this Saturday.” Alicio waved me away with a lazy flick of his hand.

  **Felix**

 “Marinette, I got the feeling that the whole time Alicio was hitting on me.” I sat on Mari’s floor as I watched her sew.

“That’s just your imagination. You like to think everyone is flirting with you.”

“Because most of the time they are.”

Marinette laughed, “Right. I’m glad you’re so humble.”

“Hey Mari, do you think you’ll ever tell Chat your Ladybug?” I scrolled through my Instagram feed.

Mari sat still for a long moment, “If we ever defeat Hawk Moth.” She started to sway as she pushed fabric under her sewing machine.

“What about Adrien?”

The pencil Marinette dropped echoed throughout the room with a painful clack. “No.” She whispered before she turned back to her creation.

“Why not?”

“Because Felix, he wouldn’t like the real me if he knew.”

“Ladybug is a part of you, how is that not the real you?” Girls are confusing, I thought to myself.

“I’m not brave.” Mari spun to face me.

“What?”

“I’m not really brave. I just pretend to be.” She said with her head hung low.

“I pretend to be brave too. Most people pretend.” I shrugged.

“Really?” Mari’s blue eyes met mine.

“Yeah, Chat just thinks I’m stupid for running around without a miraculous as does Tikki. I'm stupidly brave. That doesn't count.”

A small smile formed on her lips, “Yeah. I guess you are an idiot.”


	24. Adrien's regret and Felix's Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix finally searches the mystery closet and spends his day with Mari while Adrien realizes what a horrible mistake he made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! Here is the coveted next chapter. 
> 
> Felix doesn't get to search the closet in this one, but he will in the next one. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy another fun read :)

**Felix**

I ended up in front of the bookcase on Friday with the Batman stripper pole in front of me. "Time to get on the pole once again." I laughed as I jumped down the black hole with only this silly metal pole to keep me from a broken ankle. Possibly a broken leg.  
 I landed on the cement floor with a thud. I flipped on the garage light that illuminated the gray garage. "I can’t get distracted now." I gazed lovingly at the Lamborghini before I turned towards the wooden door.

I took a deep breath and my hand landed on the wooden door, "No." The door wasn’t locked. I opened the wooden door, but there were only stairs. "No." I felt along the walls for anything-anything that would lead to a secret room. I felt along the other side of the wall to find nothing…

"Where would Gabriel put that box if there’s no secret room?" I leaned against the wall and sat on a step. "None of this makes sense." I gazed at the angled ceiling and saw what I had been looking for. "Bingo." I sprung up from my step and onto my tiptoes then pulled a partially concealed short black string that was taped to the ceiling. It was a miracle I saw it in the first place.

A flimsy narrow staircase, the kind you find in horror movies of some suburban house you know leads to a demon, fell from the ceiling and locked onto a step on the main stairwell. My heart raced as I took the first step. I was probably gonna die. I was doing a very stupid white guy move going up into an attic that may be haunted. Still, I took the stairs, step by step, until I reached the top. The room was small like a horizontal closet with a low ceiling that I had to scrunch under just to reach around in. I found boxes-lots of small boxes. I tugged a taped brown box close to me with nervous anticipation when-

"Natalie, I need you to get me the correct sketches immediately! I don’t care who you have to hunt down, just get them."

"Shit." I spun around to pull up the ladder then I shut the hatch door, but the string wouldn’t be taped. "I’m screwed," I whispered. "I’m screwed, I’m screwed, I’m screwed."

The floor, ceiling that I just happened to be sitting on, vibrated with a door opening. I heard thump, thump, thump, which I could only assume was Gabriel descending the stairs. If it were Natalie, I'd probably hear click, click, click due to her heels.

Please don’t notice the dangling string, I prayed in my mind. "Dear lord, I swear I will give up smoking permanently if he doesn’t see it." 　

The thump stopped for just a heartbeat before it continued. "John, I need those sketches. You sent the wrong ones-they aren’t what I envisioned. Fine, I’ll head over. I was going out anyway."

I heard the rising garage as it rumbled upwards before I slipped out of the claustrophobic crawl space. I couldn’t search now that Natalie was home-or coming home quick. I hadn't seen her around.

Once the steps were safely back, I realized I lost the tape. I panicked as I searched the floor. "Oh no." I lost the tape. I would be screwed, and Gabriel would move all the evidence I had-evidence I hadn’t even gotten the chance to look through. All the proof I need, all the clues were about to slip away. I didn’t even know how I could sneak into his office without Natalie’s notice then sneak back down here to tape up the stairs then head back to my room without looking suspicious. I suppose I could climb back up the stripper pole if I really needed to. I don't think the weighter beside it went back up.

I ran up the stairs and cracked the door. Natalie wasn’t home yet, at least she wasn't at her desk, so I sprinted to her desk since it was clear and close to the door for tape.

"What are you doing with that?"

I spun around to see Natalie at the now opened front door. "Well look at you in flats." I smiled with displeasure. The one time I needed her to wear heels.

Natalie strolled over with great efficiency, "Glad to see you taking an interest in my footwear, Felix." She plucked the tape dispenser from my hand.

"Well I am the son of a famous fashion designer, and can’t help but notice a pretty lady’s footwear." I winked and tried to grab back the tape dispenser.

"Go borrow your father’s if you need one so bad."

I held a hand over my heart, "You wound me Natalie, I simply won’t allow my fingers to touch anyone’s tape dispenser but your own." I grabbed a piece from the dispenser. "Till later my beautiful lotus flower."

Natalie rolled her eyes holding her tape out, "Just take it and go." She huffed before sitting down at her desk.

"As you wish." I sprinted down the garage steps. I would have to wait until this weekend when everyone was asleep to dig through the boxes. They could be the key to everything.

 

**Adrien**

 

 "Nino, I regret it. I can’t believe I’m leading Felix to a date with a guy." I paced around his room.

"Dude just call it off."

"But, then he won’t take Chloe to the gala." I flopped onto Nino’s neon green bean bag chair.

"Well I mean it’s either a date or sex with Alicio. Since he’s come back, he’s been super obvious with his intentions with everyone he’s talking to, at least when he tells me about stuff. Apparently, I am officially old enough to know what goes on in his life."

"Wait, so he’s talking to others?"

"Yeah, he’s talking to a Finish model named Lilly...something with an L. I honestly wasn’t listening when he showed me the picture since she was mega hot." Nino pulled out his phone.

"Why would he want a date with Felix if he has that!" I exclaimed when Nino pulled up a picture of her. "She is outrageously hot." A tall blonde with bright blue eyes stared back at me. It just didn't make sense! Alicio could have practically any women he wanted! He was a twenty-two year old on his way to being a rock god. Felix was just a huge nerd who watched too much anime and read comics!

"Exactly, that’s what I pointed out to him, but in his mind, Felix is just as hot." Nino put his phone back down. "She actually kinda reminds me of Felix, well the female version of him anyway. Maybe Alicio just wants a matching set." He shrugged.

"That’s really weird." I couldn't imagine being attracted to a guy. I couldn't picture me wanting both a guy Marinette and Marinette together. It would be like dating her brother at the same time. Weird.

"Alicio is just really weird now. He used to be my idol, but now it’s all girls and guys and parties-" Nino dropped his water bottle to the left of his blue bean bag chair. "This is the guy who would take me to concert halls for classical music competitions, sneak me into concerts, bought my first guitar, and inspired me to be a DJ in the first place."

"Hey, he’s still the same guy." I grabbed Nino’s shoulder. "He’s just...um distracted right now. Why don’t we go do something cool like that on Sunday for my day off? I think there’s a classical music event going on Sunday." I check my phone. "Oh it’s just kids fourteen and under, but that could still be fun. Maybe I should enter." I joked.

"Dude, do it. You practice all that piano, why not put it to good use?"

"Music competition?" Alicio poked his head in. "I didn’t know you played Adrien."

"Yeah, I mean it’s nothing spectacular." I shrugged. "Besides I wouldn’t even know what piece to play if I entered. Not to mention the fact I'm already fifteen. I'd get disqualified."

"You just have to pick one you already have memorized. Your old man is pushing you so much to be perfect at everything, I’m sure there’s one piece you have memorized without practice." Nino scooted over so Alicio could join him on his bean bag chair. "Plus who cares if you don't win? It would just be for fun. Why don’t you register? It’s not too late." Alicio urged. "I love classical music. If I hadn’t chosen to be a rock star, I would have become a violinist." Alicio pretended to play a violin. "It’s so much work though, and the rock gods demanded me on stage." Alicio leaned back into the bag with a sigh.

"Don’t you like being a rock star? Playing with Jagged Stone would be amazing!"

"Oh yeah, he’s an interesting guy. Bit of a prude for me." Alicio sniffed. "Apparently he's not as free-spirited as when he first started out."

"Aren’t most people too much of a prude for you?" Nino joked.

"Oh, most people are, but I make exceptions like for our dear Adrien." Alicio’s eyes glinted as he raised his arms above his head to stretch. "I find his innocence utterly endearing."

Nino coughed looking like he might faint, "So about that competition?" 　

"Pass. It would be too much effort for twenty minutes of playing."

"No, dude. Do it. We’ll bring Marinette and Alya along. It’ll be fun! You can dedicate the song to her."

Alicio picked up Nino’s phone and started typing.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I just entered Adrien. Now he has to play." Alicio flicked his wrist and dropped Nino’s phone into his open hand.

"Both of you suck."

   
 **Felix**

 

 "Adrien is entering a music competition!" Alya held her phone to Marinette’s face and squealed.

"Oh is he?"

"Yeah, it’s on Sunday. We can’t stay out too late on Saturday then." Alya decisively slapped her fist on the table. "We should be back in bed by midnight...or one at the latest."

"Ugh, I hate classical music. It puts me to sleep." I licked my nougat ice cream. French people were obsessed with nougat I found out, including Marinette. I held the ice cream cone Marinette and I were sharing for her turn.

"You have to go, I mean Adrien will want you to be there." Marinette licked the ice cream that melted off the side.

I looked away as I tried in vain to keep my thoughts pure. "I don’t know. It’s been a little weird between us. He hasn’t seemed to want to hang out lately." The reason he didn’t want to was my fault since we had that fight a couple days ago. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were before, yet I didn't want to stop spending time with Marinette just because Adrien decided to be a brat about us hanging out.

"He’ll get over it if you go to the event. You just have to support him." Marinette made a cute determined face. The kind where her blue eyes harden and her lips pucker.

"What happened between you and Adrien? Did you guys have a fight?" Alya narrowed her eyes at me.

"Oh, right I never told you." Balls, I cursed myself. I completely forgot I never told Alya, or made up a ready to go lie. "You see I um broke something of his that was really precious to him."

"That sounds like something you’d do, but I get the feeling that you’re lying." Alya’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"He’s telling the truth Alya. He broke a picture of his mom." Marinette’s lie sounded forced. Alya was never gonna buy it.

"Exactly." I took a bit of ice cream as Marinette tried to pull it away from my mouth. "Hey!" I licked the melted ice cream off her hand.

"Gross! Cut it out." Marinette flicked a chocolate chunk at my face.

"Hey, that was uncooled for."

Marinette made a gagging noise, "That pun was bad. Just for that, I’m not letting you have any more."

"Oh come on Mari, don’t give me the cold shoulder."

Mari turned her back to me as she overemphasized her lick.

I stared at her back her lacy white crop top exposing most of her tanning backside. The things she did to me without trying scared the hell out of me.

"So you guys had a fight over a broken picture?" Alya’s voice sounded crisp with disbelief.

"Yeah, but Adrien is also really stressed," I said as I leaned over Marinette. "Come on, just share one more bite." I pressed my face against hers.

"Nope." She held the cone away from me giggling. Her laughter vibrated against my chest making me feel...things.

"If you keep doing that, you're going to lose the ice cream to a pigeon." I tried to tickle her right side trying to just keep things light.

"I’ll drop it first if you don’t cut that out." Marinette shoved my hands away with her elbow.

"For some crazy reason, I’m not buying that story." Alya’s gaze was as frigid as her voice when I turned back to look at her. Shit.

"Uh, why would you say that?"

Alya said nothing as she watched Mari and I continue to fight over the cone that I victoriously won and kindly shared. Who said Felix Finch wasn't a gentleman?

"Do you guys want to walk around some more? I want to find some new sandals." Mari stood up from our bench tugging down her shorts.

"I’m not doing anything." I jumped up from my spot.

"I think I’m going to go to Nino’s." Alya straightened up tensely. Her gaze at me was still cold.

"Are you sure you don’t want to join Alya?" Mari looked confused as to why her friend was behaving so distantly.

"Yeah, I have to do an interview with his cousin today anyway." Alya waved goodbye to us.

"That was weird." I blinked. "Alya normally loves to hangout around me." I flexed. I knew the real reason though. She knew I was feeling things for Marinette when I shouldn't be.

"Shut up." Mari smacked her small hand against my chest. "Let’s go this way."

I walked along side of her as a group of girls stared at us. "I guess I shouldn’t walk in front of my own ad," I muttered speeding up.

"Hey, you’re going too fast!" Mari jogged to keep up with me.

"What’s the matter short stack? Too fast for you?"

Marinette tried to trip me, but ended up tripping herself.

"You trying to trip me? Do you see the irony in this situation?" I caught her against my chest.

Marinette gazed up at me with her big blue eyes. Her pink lips parted that probably tasted like the nougat ice cream we finished. They'd be so sweet to kiss...

"Marinette…" I found that I had leaned my head down to her. "You have ice cream on your face!" I wiped the imaginary ice cream away and moved her upright.

"You jerk!" Marinette elbowed my ribs. "I did not have ice cream on my face!" Her lips pouted and her cheeks were flushed pink. Her hand hesitantly touched her cheek second guessing herself though.

My heart pounded painfully, was it possible for a girl to be this cute? "Yeah, you did." I laughed.

"I did not, and you know it." Mari hip checked me.

Just then my phone buzzed in my pocket, I pulled it out and opened to see a text from Alya. **What are you doing Finch?**

_Walking?_

_I mean with Marinette. I know that lie about that fight with Adrien was bullshit Finch. You were fighting over Mari!_

Damn Alya was good. _:(_

_Don’t give me that Mr! Don’t tell me you like her too?_

_....possibly…._

_Oh my god you are impossible!_

_It’s not my fault. Have you ever seen Marinette blush or punch me? It’s like the cutest kitten, puppy, and penguin rolled into one tiny adorable being._

_You have Abigail Nikolaevich after you. Don’t lead Mari on._

_I’m not leading anyone on. You’re over reacting._

_Marinette likes Adrien. I think it’s best you back off._

Alya’s words stung. _Maybe Marinette should make that choice._ I ignored the onslaught of texts.

"Who were you texting?" Marinette asked as she finally found a store.

"Just someone who had a bunch of annoying questions."

"Like me? I still want to know more about you." Marinette dove among the aisle of shoes.

"Again with 20 questions?" I tried to sound annoyed, but my tone just sounded excited.

"Well yeah." Marinette giggled. "So, are you coming to the Nino’s DJing party?" Marinette fidgeted with a pair of white sandals.

"DJing party?" I smirked.

"Stop teasing me. I just couldn’t think of the right word for it." Marinette went to the next pair of sandals.

"Yes, I am going to the DJing party." I chuckled and dodged the sandal Marinette tried to slap me with. "So violent today! What if your parents saw you trying to beat an innocent bystander?"

"They’d support my decision since they know how irritating you can be." Marinette pulled five pairs of sandals off the wire racks.

I pulled my phone out and saw I had three messages: one from Alya, one from Adrien, and one from an unknown number.

 _I want what’s best for her._ \- Alya.

 _Hey bro, I have something to tell you. I may have done a terrible thing behind your back and I just want to talk to you about it.-_ Adrien

Look _forward to our date tomorrow ;) This is Alicio btw_.- Alicio.

 _What did you do? Why does Alicio think I’m taking him on a date?_ I texted Adrien.

_Well, the thing is that’s what he wanted in exchange for taking Chloe to the gala. He wants a date with you. I said you’d do it. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have._

I dropped my phone.

Marinette turned when she heard it clatter on the stone floor. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes Marinette, there is. Adrien just set me up on a date with a guy!"

 

 

 


	25. Felix's date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heavy annoyance and dramatic sighs from Felix. 
> 
> Adrien has a wonderful date with Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ties back to chapter 19 with Max's younger brother Macee at the end.

**Felix**

"I hate this," I muttered. I had dug through my closet and threw on the least appealing outfit I could find. I hoped it would be enough to turn off Alicio.

"You’re the one that decided to dress like a rich douche bag." Adrien shrugged. Adrien looked appropriate for a concert with black jeans, a white t-shirt, and orange converse sneakers.

"Yeah, but if I dress like this he won’t find me attractive." I had a white button down shirt with a hideously brown button-down sweater vest that never should have been created, and a pair of faded jeans that did absolutely nothing for my ass. "I don’t even find me attractive in this." My blonde hair was slicked back, and I felt like a preppy sleazeball from the 80s but all his good clothes were at the dry cleaners.

"You look like something out of those preppy boarding school shows."

I threw my head back and groaned, "You are not helping me feel better about this Adrien."

"You know you could just avoid the whole thing if you let me do the talking for you." Plagg boasted. "I’ll make it so he never sees you in an attractive light again."

"I might you take you up on that offer." I followed Adrien downstairs. "Can I have Plagg speak for me, Adrien?"

"No, Plagg is going to stay in my pocket like he’s supposed to."

"Well set him up for a tiny headset so he can whisper me lines."

"You mean whisker you lines?" Adrien elbowed me.

"Now is not the time for cat puns." I hissed on the last step of the stairs. "You’re the one that got me into this situation in the first place."

"And you were the one hanging out with Marinette after you said you’d back off." Adrien shot back.

"We are just friends, I don’t see why you’re still acting like a brat."

Gabriel stood by the front door with his hands neatly tucked behind his back, "Felix, Adrien I hope you are responsible tonight." His face oozed disgust when he eyed my outfit. "Why are you dressed like that? It looks atrocious."

"Just trying to be repulsive on purpose for once." I gave a grin and fake fist pump.

"You look like something out of a prep school brochure. A bad one." Gabriel turned his nose upwards. "Can’t you change? I can’t have you landed on some worst dressed list because of that outfit." He fingered the sweater, "Is this one of my early designs?" He tugged around trying to find his A emblem on it.

I stepped away from his grasp, "Not tonight dear dad, I will happily burn these clothes with you after." I called as I slipped out the door after Adrien.

"You know I have a question before we head to Nino’s." Adrien slipped into the silvery car first.

"What now? If you’re going to make a joke about this situation-" I went slid beside him.

"No, I mean Abigail is super possessive, right? At least that’s what I heard."

"I guess so?" It took me a moment to realize where Adrien was headed with this. "You want me to invite her along?"

"I could message her or snap her insinuating you had a date. I can only assume she would show up and ruin the whole thing."

I pictured an angry Peacock trying to kill me once again. "I don’t know bro. She gets this crazy look in her eyes when she’s mad. It’s kind of hot, but…"

"Too bad, I already snapped her."

"You asshole." I smacked Adrien upside the head in an angry huff. 　

   
 **Adrien**

  
   
I felt guilty as we waited in line. Alicio had been all over Felix in the awkwardest of ways.

"I kind of feel bad for him," Alya whispered then giggled as Alicio tried to touch Felix’s butt. Again.

Felix jumped away with a look of shock and annoyance.

"I suppose it’s not any different than him dealing with all of those middle school fangirls from the beach." I bit my lip. Guilt tightened my throat like a noose. He agreed to it, I reminded myself. The next thought that hit me: he’s only doing it for you.

"Couldn’t he just explain he’s not interested?" Marinette offered the only logical solution.

"Nino told me Alicio would just think he’s playing hard to get. Besides, it’s not like he’s used to being told no a lot. The guy is a famous musician." Alya shrugged as she stared at her picture of Nino. "Do you think I should post this one Mari?"

"I’m sure he won’t have to put up with it for too much longer anyway," I said to mostly myself. I hoped that this justification would help shake the guilt.

"What’s that suppose to mean?" Marinette gazed at me with quizzical eyes.

"Just a hidden plan that Felix and I worked out." I winked.

"Well, I’m glad to see you two getting along again." Marinette smiled.

"He told you about the fight?"

"I pieced things together on my own for the most part." Mari’s small hand brushed mine. "I'm glad you both made up. He's a great friend."

My heart did a backflip as I weaved my fingers between hers. "I’m glad I did too." I stared into Mari’s big blue eyes and moved a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "It’s going to be an awesome night."

 

**Felix**

 "My little Nino is all grown up now," Alicio screamed in my ear as the music thumped between us.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to this until I saw Alicio’s too shimmery eyes. "Yeah, he’s really great. You should be really proud." I patted his shoulder. I hated this. Why do I have to get stuck on this date? Alicio wasn’t a bad guy, when he wasn’t groping me, but I was annoyed with the whole situation.

"I really am. He’s my favorite cousin. The only one who ever understood or looked up to me." Alicio’s teary eyes flashed under the changing colored lights. "I’m hoping that one day I’ll find that in someone I can truly love." His lips were pressed against my ear.

"I am sure you will." I froze in horror as I felt Alicio’s hand move to my butt. Again. I jumped back almost knocking into the guy behind me who was way too into dancing with his limbs flailing everywhere.

"You’re so shy!" Alico smile seemed predatory. If those girls from the beach were raptors, Alicio was the tyrannosaurus rex in Jurrasic Park. I felt like the poor guy who got stuck in the bathroom with his pants down.

"Because I am so not your type. At all." I announced awkwardly when the song changed.

"I think you are, you just need some incentive to see the commonalities between us." Alicio danced towards me. "You should take off that ridiculous sweater." Alicio pulled me close and tore at the buttons. In the flash of an eye, the ugly sweater was thrown into the crowd. I stood there in terror as I watched Alicio’s golden brown eyes gaze hungrily into mine. "I think a hot boy like you doesn’t need that shirt at all, mon cher." Dancing bodies pressed us closer and closer I stood frozen in terror as this international musician, adored by millions, was unbuttoning my shirt with practiced grace.

"Um whoa, that’s uh really not my style for public places." I tried to pry his hands off my shirt, but only assisted him succeed in ripping three buttons free. I realized to an onlooker it might look like I was encouraging this handsy behavior. "Dammit." I cursed trying to separate us. I was just going to have to be honest with the guy and hurt his feelings.

"Excuse me." Le wild Abigail appeared. She hurled herself against Alicio. "Just what do you think you're doing with MY man."

"Ms. Nikolaevich, how wonderful to finally meet you" Alicio’s predatory behavior flipped on a dime to gentlemanly as he kissed the top of her hand. "You’re even more beautiful in person." Alicio pressed a strand of Abby’s long, red hair between his fingers. "Such beautiful hair. Do you dye it?"

"No, I don’t," Abigail growled loudly over the music.

"Wow, you truly are a novelty. I’ve never seen natural red hair as brilliant as yours. Do you want to dance?" Alicio took her arm.

"Uh-" Abby glanced back at me as Alicio dragged her to the center of the dance floor.

I blinked in shock. Alicio had left me alone...for Abigail.

The plan had worked, "Oh thank God." I sighed and headed towards a bare spot along the wall. The top of my white shirt was ripped thanks to Alicio’s prying hands, but at least I was free.

I saw Alya shoving towards me through the thong of dancers under the flashing lights. "Hey, do you want dance?" She shouted.

"Yeah." I pushed myself up from the wall and let Alya lead the way. I moved to Nino’s beat, but Alya was way more into it.

Alya rocked her hips back and forth then proceed to come in closer towards me. She grabbed my shirt between her fists and pulled me to her. "You break Marinette’s heart Finch, and I will end you." Alya’s lips were dangerously close to mine.

I blinked in realization that Alya was actually pretty hot. "I’m not gonna break her heart." I spun her around me so her back was against my chest.  "If anything your heart will be broken because we won’t be together." I slid us closer together to feel her hips rock against mine.

Alya elbowed me hard, "Knock it off Finch, or I’ll hand you over to Alicio."

"Don’t even joke about that. His determination to fuck me is scary."

"Oh, you are so full of yourself."

"I am serious Alya. He ripped my shirt just so he could look at my chest." I spread my shirt for emphasis.

Alya held a hand over her mouth. It took me a moment to realize she was laughing at me.

I frowned in annoyance, "It’s not funny. He is way too handsy." 　　　

"So you just left him alone with Abigail?"

"Well…." That was a jerk move on my part, but Alicio didn’t seem to be handsy with her.

"You better go find her before they get into a cat fight over you." Alya danced towards Marinette and Adrien. I couldn’t tell how they were dancing, but I doubted it was anything I needed to worry about. Adrien wasn’t exactly what I would call a lady killer.

"I need to stay focused." The part of the plan I never told Adrien about was leaving the club and going through those boxes. Gabriel would be out late tonight at some event, and it was the best chance I had. I pushed my way through the dancing bodies towards the exit. I prayed no one important saw me leave since my whole plan hinged on that detail. I ducked behind a trashcan and changed into my Tiger uniform. I shoved my regular clothes under the trash bin covered in a plastic bag. "Hopefully nobody notices." It’s not like I needed those clothes, but I did like the dress shoes. My mom gave them to me before I left for Paris.

I grappled to the roof beside the club, and ran over rooftops. At my pace, I should reach the manor in about twenty minutes or less. That wouldn’t give me a lot of time to complete my plan, but just enough to gather any important clues. I still didn’t have solid evidence to who Hawk Moth was, or why he wanted me to find that picture. That whole situation still frustrated me as the same questions flooded my mind: who was Hawk Moth, why did he want me to find that picture, why was he keeping Abigail, and how did she end up in his clutches anyway? 　　

I ran into a long space between roofs just like from the movies. Shit, that was a huge gap. I pressed off the roof as hard as I could and narrowly grabbed the fire escape. My hands wrapped around the black bar as I steadied myself. I climbed the narrow stairs and again started to run across roofs extending to the manor.

"I'm a tough tootin' baby, I can puncha yo buns, puncha yo buns, I can punch all your buns! If you're an evil witch, I will punch you for fun!"

I skidded to a stop and fumbled to pull my phone out of the small side pocket of my suit. "Bonjour," I said as calmly as I could. I slowed my breath so it didn’t sound like I had just finished an epic round of sex.

"What’s white and black and panting on my roof right now?" A young voice asked.

"Who is this?"

"Duh, who do you think it is?"

I rolled my eyes, "Max’s brother, how did you even get this number?" I looked around, "I’m not even on your roof...I think."

"Macee, my name is Macee. I hacked your main Facebook account and got your cell phone number that way. So what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing of your concern." I sighed tempted to just hang up.

"Well, it must be important to just leave a party like that."

"Yeah, I’m sure you’d know all about ragers from all your bouncy house birthday parties," I said with heavy sarcasm as I jumped to the next roof.

"Well since you're too busy being a jerk, I guess you wouldn’t be interested in stopping that bank robbery happening downtown."

"Ugh." I leaned my head back and let out the most dramatic sigh I could muster. "I have to do something immediately before it’s too late."

"And sacrifice the greater good?"

"I am the greatest good the Agreste family is ever gonna get." I leaped onto the last roof that was nearest to the giant mansion.

"Are you ever not frustrating dork? I thought you were supposed to be the bad boy of the Agreste family."

"Who says I’m not?"

"From your internet history, I’d make the assumption you are a gigantic nerd."

"Stay out of my internet history!" I snapped.

"Who’s fault is it that you never clear it."

"That is private stuff! Private stuff that ten-year-olds should not be looking at." I knew I should have cleared my browser history.

"I’m not interested in your porn. I want to know what you’re doing breaking into your own house."

"For special reasons." I snuck in through Adrien’s windows and made my way towards the garage. "It’s a long story."

"Well, I’m stuck at home listening to the police radio about the bank robbery across town happen. If you’d just hurry your butt up, you could stop it."

I ran down the main staircase and straight to the garage steps. "Ghee, I wonder why it’s taking my longer." I shouldered the phone as I peeled the tape off the black string to pull down the stairs. "Why are you spying on me anyway?"

"Because you’re my new favorite superhero, and you need my help."

I pulled up one of the dusty boxes and cut it open with a claw. "I’m glad to hear that, but you seriously can’t hack my personal stuff."

"Maybe you should have better security then. You are kind of famous now, plus a superhero. You should make security your number one priority. "

I pulled out vintage photos that were apparently either Gabriel’s or Mrs.Agreste’s family. I retaped the box and shoved it aside. I grabbed the next one and clawed it. "More pictures." I looked at all the pictures of Mrs. Agreste. She was really pretty, I decided. From the photos I glimpsed at as I shuffled through the box, only her father had been in the picture. A tall pale blonde man stood by her side in all of her pictures that were in this box.

"What are you even doing? The bank robbery is almost over. Paris needs your help."

I pulled up the next box with guilt. All it would take to stop that robbery would be for me to shoot Adrien and Marinette a text then show up at the bank. Just three more boxes then I’ll go, I promised myself.

"You’re seriously no fun. Do you know who Ladybug and Chat Noir even are?"

"Not telling." I opened the next box, which was the most interesting. I found a picture of my mom and Gabriel at a cafe holding hands. "Not dating my ass," I muttered. I moved onto the next picture was of them walking around holding hands somewhere around the Notre Dame. Someone must have been following them, maybe Adrien’s mom? My mom always acted like she never knew his mom, but the next picture was of the both of them hugging Gabriel. "Weird." The next couple were of a fashion show, some sort of designing competition with Gabriel in first place and my mom wearing the dress with a big first banner across her chest. Gabriel had his hand in hers. He looked happy. "Super weird." All of these looked like they attended high school and college together. If that was the case, why would my mom act like she never knew Mrs. Agreste? Why act like they never dated? Why would Gabriel insist my mom was a one night stand beyond protecting Adrien? It looks like they dated for awhile. I shook my head, "It doesn’t make sense."

Finally, the last item in the box was an old magazine with a French name boldly printed across the top. The brunette on the cover was in some sort of old-time pinup swimsuit. "Why would he keep this?" I flipped through the pages till I found it. "Oh my god!" I screamed and dropped the magazine and my phone.

"What’s wrong?" Macee shouted.

I covered my mouth and the urge to vomit overwhelmed me. "My mom modeled for the French version of playboy, and Gabriel…" I gagged. "My life is over."

"You’re mom modeled for what?" Macee shouted again. "I can’t hear you."

I wanted to burn the magazine to the depths of hell, but I noticed something at the bottom of the box. I lifted the sketches of dresses, one looked like a wedding dress. The sketches were crude- they didn’t look anything like Gabriel’s now. These might have been stuff my mom sketched. Maybe stuff Mrs. Agreste had sketched?

"Hey, the robbers will be driving right on route to the club if you’re going back. You should probably stop them."

"Yeah, I’ll go stop them." I threw everything back in the box and taped it up. I promised myself I would come back and burn that magazine.

"You should get a headset."

"Why?"

"So I can talk you through what to do duh."

"Oh so now you’re the expert."

"I could hack the city’s security cameras to give you direct play by play just so I could let you know. It wouldn’t be the first time, Max and I have hacked into government security before."

"Please don’t do that. The last thing I need is a nine-year-old in jail on my part."

"Hey, no one is going to catch me. I can do this! All you have to do is trust me to help you. You don’t even need to rely on Chat Noir and Ladybug for this."

"Why?" I sighed in frustration as I placed the tape back over the black string.

"Because I want to be your partner."

"Ugh." I threw my head back and sighed. "Just for tonight, so tell me where the bad guys are." I squeezed my temple. I'd have to get rid of this kid somehow.

I could almost hear the smile in his voice, "They’re headed west on Hugo Avenue."

 

 


	26. Adrien finds Felix's Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> I am so sorry this posting took so long! I just had so much school work going on. Promise it won't take that long again to get a chapter out. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys the plot twist! Let me know how much you hated or enjoyed it ;D

**Felix**

"How could you let him do that?" Marinette smacked my chest.

"I didn’t exactly let him. He broke into everything and forced his help on me. I didn’t tell him anything about you or Chat Noir. I swear!" I lowered my face to hers and hoped she would find me sincere.

Marinette pointed her index finger in my face, "But now he knows about you! You need to stop him from playing detective and figuring out everyone’s secret identity."

I rested my forehead on Marinette’s. "I know." I blinked and watched her get flustered.

"I mean it."

"I know you do." My heart thudded painfully as Marinette broke my stare to gaze downwards. It was probably nothing. "Are you trying to look at my chest? My eyes are up here thank you." I teased.

Marinette backed up red faced, "Would you cut that out! I hate it when you tease me like that. It’s annoying." Marinette’s tiny nose scrunched.

"No, your nose is scrunched. That means you’re lying." I laughed. "Do you like it when I tease you?" I raised a brow.

Marinette’s whole face turned red, "Shut up before I kick you out. Just because I haven’t thrown you off the Eiffel Tower yet doesn’t mean I won’t do it." Marinette turned away from me towards her desk. "I have some adjustments I need to make on my dress before Adrien’s concert." 　Marinette pulled a red dress off her mannequin.

"Ugh, that thing? I almost forgot about it." I muttered as I climbed onto her bed. Marinette’s pink bed smelled like strawberries. I wondered what I smelled like to her.

"Why do you always want to be on my bed?" Marinette glanced at me over her shoulder. 　

Because it smells like strawberries, I thought. The words curled on my tongue, but wouldn’t come out. "Comfy," I said monotoned.

Marinette said nothing as she bent herself over her desk.

I wished I could explain what I felt. I wish I could just be my usual self and win her over. This pain in my chest, this confliction. I didn’t- I couldn’t like her. Adrien-I made a promise to him.

"Is something wrong? You’re awfully quiet back there." 　

"So you do like it when I tease you?" I flipped myself on my back and hung myself over her bed. I could feel the blood rush to my head and my hair sway.

Her eyes twinkled as she stared at my face and giggled, "You’re such a dork." Then she blushed when she saw that my shirt had ridden up.

"Have I shown you my abs lately?" I pulled up my shirt. "Low carb sucks, but my abs have never looked so good." I pointed and winked.

"Too bad your ego is still the same." Marinette threw a small pillow at me.

"Hey!" I sat up and my t-shirt skimmed back down to cover me. "So no twenty questions today?" I tried to make it sound casual, but I couldn’t hide the desperation in my voice. I needed her to talk to me about anything, well anything but Adrien. 　

"So you live near Chicago right?" Marinette returned her gaze to her dress.

"Yep, about an hour away from the city."

"Do you like Chicago pizza then?"

"Yes?" 　

"I don’t know what to ask off the top of my head. I plan out my questions. It would be easier to come up with questions if you could just speak French fluently."

"Hey, I am learning French! Ça va Marinette?"

"Ça va Felix?" Marinette quirked her brow in a mocking manner.

"Oui?" I answered.

Marinette laughed, "You need to practice. Can you even get past how are you?"

I huffed loudly and flopped on my side. Her bed creaked under my weight."Why can’t the knowledge just soak into my brain?" I sighed. "What pizza do you like Marinette?"

"Je parle français, non pas anglais, Felix."

"Ugh...Marinette, tu aime la pizza?" I cringed.

"Close enough for now. I actually said I speak French not English anyway. I never actually told you to speak French." Marinette smirked. "I like cheese. Not crazy about any other kind." Marinette shook her head and bit her lip. "Hey, what do you look for in a girl?"

"Huh?" I sat up from her bed with a blank stare, but inside I screamed shit really loudly.

"Nevermind."

"No, I um look for.." My voice trailed as I panicked. Do I just be honest? Should I lie? I decided to screw it, "Well honestly I look at attractiveness first." 　

"Of course." Marinette gave me an angry pout and curled her fingers.

"It’s only natural okay. Don’t blame me, blame biology. The next thing I look for is…" I stared at Marinette. "Her eyes. I love blu…" I bit my tongue. "I beautiful eyes. Next would be personality like humor, other stuff." I crossed my arms and swung my left leg off her bed.

"What do you look for in a guy?" I asked in a quiet tone.

"Oh me." Marinette turned red. "Well I’ve only ever had like two crushes in my whole life-" Marinette’s eyes met mine then quickly looked away, "But, basically I look for if he’s nice or not. I like kindness." Marinette held her hand to her chest. "I want someone who I could spend the rest of my life with."

"That’s awfully broad." I turned to her. "And not very specific." I felt jipped out of an answer. 　

"I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just the feeling I get, like I know that this is the one." Marinette’s face seemed to twist into a look of sadness. "But, what do I know about love? I’m fifteen. I can’t top your eighteen years of experience."

"I’m turning eighteen next month, excusez moi."

Marinette’s mood lightened, "That’s right! I told Adrien about it, but I was wondering if you would want to travel somewhere for your birthday." Marinette’s eyes sparkled. "We could go to Alicio’s place in Italy."

"He is not someone I want to spend my birthday with." I grimaced think of him popping out of my birthday cake naked. He'd probably do that.

"Then let's go to Amsterdam. I’ve never been there."

My eye twitched at the thought of everything I would want to do in Amsterdam verses what Marinette would want to do. "Let’s just go to Italy."

"Really?" Marinette gripped her dress with a huge smile.

"Why not?" I shrugged.

Marinette’s smile faded and she looked down, "Hey, would you want to patrol tonight if you aren’t already with Chat Noir?"

I gripped my smartphone, "Sure." I couldn’t help but wonder what Marinette wanted.

 We spent the next hour together alone until Alya showed up. Then we went to Adrien’s event, which was perfectly boring. Of course Marinette loved it, and of course, Adrien got Marinette after the event. I walked back to the manor alone. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be anyway.

**Adrien**

 

"Did you like it?" I squeezed Marinette’s hand as we walked to a nearby park. The sunset made Paris glow gold in its dimming light.

"Yes, I had no idea you were so talented." Marinette smiled. "It's too bad you were disqualified after your real age and name got out."

"It's fine. Do you want to grab something to eat?" I offered.

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Marinette swung our joined hands.

I stopped us in front of the large fountain in Parc Monceau. The fountain spray reflected the light of the setting sun, and the green leaves on the surrounding trees danced in the slight summer breeze. "Marinette," I whispered as I lowered my face to hers. I pressed my lips against hers and I watched her cute face grow red by the kiss. The sunset made her black reflect gold; I wrapped my right arm loosely around her waist.

"Adrien-" Marinette broke the kiss with a confused look on her face. Her expression wasn’t one that looked entirely happy.

"What’s wrong? Was I too forward?" I unwrapped my arm grasped Marinette’s right hand.

"No! Just surprised is all. Why don’t we go get some food." She squeezed my hand and smiled.

"Sure." My stomach turned as I pictured her face after I kissed her. I had told Felix to back off, but what if it was already too late. What if I had been too late?

 

  **Felix**

 

 "What is Kitten doing out all alone?" Abigail’s voice floated around me.

"Just heading back to the manor," I answered. I probably looked angry, I felt angry. I felt angry at myself for breaking a fake promise to Adrien, I felt angry that I liked someone I shouldn’t, and I felt angry that I couldn’t even bring up the courage to tell her.

"What’s with the attitude?" Abigail’s blood red hair swirled behind her in the breeze. She was wearing a blue sundress and wedged white sandals.

"Nothing, it’s not important."

"I know what is important though." Abigail grabbed my hand and forced her fingers between mine. "Hawk Moth has another letter for you." Abigail held the deep plum envelope out to me in a single lazy movement as if the envelope was no more than a stick of gum.

"What if I’m not interested in what Hawk Moth has to say or offer?"

"Are you stupid? Don’t piss him off." Abigail shoved the envelope into my pocket. Her finger threaded itself into the belt loop of my jeans. She leaned against me as we walked with her head on my shoulder, her finger in my belt loop pulled at my hip annoyingly, and her right hand in mine made my hand feel sweaty.

Normally, I reasoned with myself, I would not be so angry at Abigail. I really did like her, in a sense, and it would be awesome to hook up with her, if I could ever bring myself to figure out how Marinette felt, but I couldn’t stop the anger that boiled under my skin. "What am I to you anyway?" I fought the urge to shove her.

"What do you mean by that?" Abigail instantly let go of me and stepped in front of me to block my path.

Suddenly I had this gorgeous angry model in front of me, and my brain stopped. "I mean...why would you show up at the club and say I’m yours?" My voice didn’t sound confident. I meant for it to sound angry, angry at her for-for everything. She knew who Hawk Moth was, she was putting Adrien and Marinette in danger, and she wouldn’t tell me anything I needed to know.

"Because we’re together."

I blinked, which I realized was the wrong move.

"Because-" Abigail poked a manicured finger into my chest, "We are together! Right?" Her green eyes looked fierce in the dimming sunlight.

My shoulder suddenly ached at the memory of her stabbing me, "Together in the sense of right now? I mean we are together right now." Wrong fucking move, I realized too late.

"Oh."

Oh shit, I backed up.

"You’re a comedian now. I hadn’t realized you gave up on modeling so soon." Her fists clenched at her sides.

"I was just kidding! I swear, it’s my fault. I need to learn to think before I speak." I backed up again and wondered if I could change into my uniform before Abigail tried to stab me again.

"Listen here Finch, I may like you. I may think you’re super hot along with a lot of other things-"

"I would love to hear about those things in a brightly lit public room." I was honestly a little terrified of her. Being stabbed once was enough was painful enough of an experience for me.

"Look, Finch, I’m here to give the letter and spend time with you. Is it so much to ask for you to be romantic?"

My face fell into an expression of disbelief. "Sure." I was so confused. This chick was scary-yet she’s also super hot, my mind was torn. Would being with her worth getting stabbed again? Would being with her be worth the broken heart? She made it clear she wasn't going to give up Hawk Moth and I sure as hell wouldn't be joining him. I answered the question myself as I felt Abigail entangle herself back to the position she was in before. God, why do I have to be such an idiot?

 

**Adrien**

 

 After Marinette’s date, I walked back to the manor as if I could float on air. "I wonder if Marinette is as excited to hang out tomorrow as I am," I whispered to Plagg.

"Awck Love, who needs it when there are so many different cheeses in the world?" Plagg flew on top of my head and nestled in my hair. "By the way, I’m starting to feel a little peckish. I would appreciate some camembert."

"We just ate an hour ago!"

"Yes, but that was a full hour ago. A lot has happened since then." Plagg said dramatically.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like finding this purple envelope outside the gate!" Plagg bopped my head.

I bent down to pick it up, "It’s not addressed to anyone."

"Maybe it’s from a shy fangirl."

"Maybe." I broke the butterfly seal and pulled out one sheet of paper that read "find the missing link in the Le Grand Paris." I frowned.

"Is it just me or are we missing something?" Plagg floated over the letter.

"I didn’t know we were looking for a missing link." I flipped the dark purple envelope over when an awful realization hit me. "Plagg, what if Hawk Moth knows I’m Chat."

"I think that’s a bit of a stretch."

"What if it’s not for me Plagg. What if this is for Felix?" I crumbled the envelope in my fist. "What if he’s been working with Hawk Moth this whole time!"

**Felix**  
 

I couldn’t find that stupid envelope, not that I cared to read it anyway. I jumped from roof to roof as I followed Marinette. Her short, red spotted figure motivated me to run faster. I wanted to be on her level, even if she was using a magical suit. I really, really wanted my own suit. But, I always reminded myself that I being the only nonmagical member of the team would be stronger fighting Hawk Moth in the end without any miraculous.

"Why don’t we take a rest? Nothing important is happening tonight anyway." Marinette stopped near a roof that overlooked the Seine.

"Sure." This spot reminded me of the first time Abigail stabbed me. To think that was only two-three weeks ago. "So, what brought on this patrol? You couldn’t wait till tomorrow for me to annoy you?" I teased.

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Not exactly. I actually had some stuff I wanted to talk with you about."

I watched Marinette tap her fingers against the dark roof, "Is something wrong? Normally girls only say that when something is wrong."

"No, nothing is wrong…"

"That doesn’t sound convincing." I folded my arms behind my head and leaned against the roof. I half expected her to tell me that she didn’t want to see me anymore, or that she decided to date Adrien.

"Have you ever thought about staying here for your last year?" Marinette’s voice was barely audible.

"I guess I could. Gabriel would be happy to try and reform me." I sighed. "Either that or he'd happily enroll me into military model school. I'm sure there's a place in Paris for that."

"But, would you want to?"

I sighed, "Well, of course, I’d want to. I love it here."

"Really!" Marinette squeaked and laid beside me on the roof.

I turned my head to the right and smiled, "Well of course you dork. What would you and Chat do without me?"

Then something truly unexpected happened: Marinette kissed me. My eyes went wide as I felt her warm lips against mine. My heart thudded and I wrapped my right arm around her waist to pull her to my chest. We were still on our sides, and the kiss innocent enough. But, it sent a shock through my entire being. I broke the kiss, "I feel like-" how could I describe this feeling to her? My quickened heartbeat, how flustered I felt, how happy, yet there was a nagging guilt.

"Ladybug!" Just then a baton was brought down between us.

I rolled onto my stomach and jumped up, "That wasn’t what it looked like." I lied.

"Ladybug, he’s not who he seems. I should have known you were too good to be true." Adrien held the crushed purple envelope between his clawed fingers. "He’s a traitor, a liar, and he’s working with Hawk Moth."

 

**Felix**

 

“That’s not true!” I dodged his staff that came dangerously close to smashing my face.

Adrien held his baton with a tight fist and narrowed his neon green eyes at me. “I never should have believed you. It was too good to be true!” Adrien’s baton smacked me across the face.

It was worse than a punch. The metal slapped hard against my right cheek as I tried to explain myself. “Chat, would you just listen to me!” My right hand covered my already swelling cheek.

“I’m never listening to anything you have to say again!” Adrien lashed out at me, his claws dug into my shoulder and shoved me backward.

“Stop it!” Marinette wedged herself between us.

“Ladybug, you don’t understand. He’s betrayed us and I won’t let him walk away unscathed.” If Adrien’s green eyes could change color, they would be red. Red with rage all directed at me.

“So this isn’t about what just-you know what never mind Chat. Ladybug already knew about the letters.” I dodged his outreached clawed hand. I felt a breeze against my throbbing right cheek as I cringed to think of his claws ripping my skin. It had come dangerously close to that.

I knew I said the wrong thing. Adrien’s whole body seemed to just...stop. “You knew?” Adrien’s mouth gaped open as he turned his back towards me to face Marinette. “Ladybug, you knew! Why wouldn’t you tell me? Why didn’t either of you tell me.” Adrien started to shout loudly. “I’m your partner! We’ve been a team, a team for an entire year, and now that he’s in the picture you just-” Adrien grabbed Marinette’s wrist. “You just abandon me?” Adrien’s shoulders shook as I watched Marinette wrap her arm around him in a poor attempt to comfort him.

“It’s not like that Chat. I thought you already knew. I’m so sorry.” Marinette’s blue eyes seemed shinier than normal.

Way to go Felix, I thought bitterly. You made Marinette and Adrien cry. “Chat, it’s all my fault. I take full responsibility for the misunderstanding.”

“You planned this. You planned this from the very beginning.” Adrien’s messy blond hair covered his eyes. He turned to me slowly and pressed a black knee against the roof to lunge himself forward towards me. His eyes were still covered, but I saw streaks of tears as they swam down his cheeks.

“I didn’t plan anything! If I planned this, my life would be a lot simpler right now.” I muttered.

“I’m taking you down.” Adrien stood in front of me with his baton extended in his hand.

“Chat, no, please. Don’t do this.” Marinette grabbed his leg as she kneeled against the black roof trying to pull him backward. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

“When am I ever thinking clearly Ladybug? Next, you’ll say I’m being too emotional just like my father.” Adrien’s face contorted in an angry smirk. “I guess I am too emotional, but at least I’ll feel better after beating you.” Adrien finally lifted his eyes to meet mine, and his green eyes cursed me.

This is all your fault, my conscience rang in my head loudly. The world slowed to a crawl as I noticed three things: first a dark purple butterfly had landed in the bell on Adrien’s collar, Ladybug tried to tackle Adrien away from the butterfly, but ended up shoving him right into it, and Adrien’s baton had left his hands to smack me in the face. Again. “Shit, I think you broke my nose!” I gripped my now bleeding nose.

“Felix, we have a bigger problem.” Ladybug scrambled on top of Adrien. “Chat, Chat Noir you need to fight it. Come on, please. Please don’t leave me.” Marinette wailed.

Adrien’s black costume changed to white and his green eyes turned red. “Get off me Ladybug.” Adrien shoved Marinette hard. “You’re so disgusting and hypocritical. You already made your choice in partners, so don’t act like you care about me.”

“Ladybug!” I lunged towards her and grabbed her hand before she tumbled off the black roof. “Chat, what is wrong with you!” I shouted as I pulled Marinette up to my chest.

“He’s not himself anymore. He’s been akumatized.” Marinette whispered softly. “It’s all my fault.”

“No, it’s my fault. I’m a shitty friend.” I patted her back. I turned to see a now white Adrien shoot me a menacing glare. “You should run.” I protectively spun Marinette behind me.

“So now you want to be the fucking hero? How cliche. You were just working for Hawk Moth!” Adrien lurched forward with his silver baton raised.

“Ladybug, just run!” I leapt off the roof onto the next one. My feet slapped against the shiny surface in a desperate attempt to flee from a now evil Adrien. “This is all my fault,” I grunted as I felt a hard object smack me between my shoulder blades. I nose-dived onto the grey roof and slid down. I desperately reached for anything to stop my fall. Duh, I realized I still had a grappling hook. I pulled the hook from my waist and shot at the balcony to the left. I squeezed my eyes and prayed that Marinette and Adrien wouldn’t have to scrape me off the sidewalk from my three-story fall. I heard a clank and felt myself thrust forward face first against the brick building. “Fuck!” I shouted. My nose was broken for sure, and I felt a scream of pain rip through me.

“You’re such an idiot. How could I ever be related to someone like you!” Adrien jumped from the roof with his claws outstretched ready to dig into me. I had a feeling he'd go for my face this time.

I panicked and grappled towards the black balcony with a jerk as I pressed the black retracting button. I pushed myself away from the brick wall and felt gravity lessen as I was snatched forward. I ran against the wall like a ninja, which is exactly what Adrien, who was right behind me, was doing.

“Come on Felix, just give up and let me beat you to a pulp!” Adrien’s voice grew nearer.

I spotted him from my peripheral vision as he ran past me towards the grappling rope. “Don’t!” I shouted as I jumped forward to knock him down so he wouldn’t cut my line. I ended up swinging us both under the balcony right into a fire escape. Metal on metal clanged painfully loud in my ears as I felt Adrien dig his claws into my arm.

“Now just stay there so I can ruin that face of yours.” Adrien raised his right fist at the same time I raised my left knee.

I pressed my knee into his chest with a loud crack. “Sorry dude.” I punched him in the stomach at full force just to get him away from me. I turned backward and leapt from the fire escape to run out of the alleyway. I needed to find Marinette.

“Felix!” Marinette jumped down from the roof across the street. “We need to break the bell on his costume. That’s where the akuma is.”

“Oh sure, let me just go back and ask for it.” I touched my nose gingerly. Blood was still pouring out of it, and fuck did it hurt.

Marinette shot me an annoyed glance, “I think I have tampons in my purse if you want.”

“Because obviously, it’s that time of the month for me.” I wiped the blood onto my costume. This was going to be a pain to clean.

“I thought you were acting moody.” Marinette wrenched me towards her to avoid a garbage bin that whizzed in the air and smashed right where I had been standing.

“Well, this makes me feel better.” I winked at her as she realized she had pressed me tightly against her chest. “I had no idea this fight was making you frisky, although I don’t think now is the right time for this Mari.”

Marinette’s whole face burned red as she shoved me off of her. “You’re lucky I didn’t let that trash bin smash you.”

“I think you wanted to smash me more.”

“Seriously? We need to save Chat.” Marinette punched my arm in the spot where Adiren had dug his claws into.

“We’ll talk about it later Mari.” I winced. “I’m paw-sitive.”

“You know Felix…” Marinette pressed her fingers to her forward in annoyance. “Why don’t you let Chat give you a couple good punches after all.”

“You might just get your wish!” I spun Marinette out of the way as Adrien’s fist barely missed her face.

Adrien’s fists moved too fast for me. He punched me in the gut, under my chin, and the left side of my face. He was too fast- Adrien shoved an outspread clawed up my suit towards my neck until Marinette’s yo-yo wrapped around his arm. That was too close. He almost slit my throat.

I had one shot; I grabbed the bell and crushed it between my fingers. I dove on Adrien and shouted, “Ladybug!”

“No more evil doing for you little akuma!” I heard Marinette announce as I stared down at an angry Adrien.

“You’ll never defeat me even if you purify the akuma because I’ll still hate you, Felix,” Adrien hissed in my face.

His words were the worse than any injury he inflicted on me, which all suddenly disappeared as magic fixed up everything. “Adrien, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I’m a shitty brother and person. But, you’re kind of shitty too after all the stuff you had me do these past two weeks. Chloe was the worst favor ever by the way.” I whispered. “It doesn’t matter to me if you hate me, or if you’re not perfect like the world wants you to be. You don’t have to be perfect because I like you just the way you are even if you’re a brat at times.”

“Felix?” Adrien’s black costume was back.

“Yeah?”

“Your knee is digging into my crotch. It’s kind of weird.”

“Oh.” I scrambled off of him.

“Yeah. That was really weird. Why were you telling me all that stuff anyway?” Adrien looked at me confused. “Did something happen?”

I made a face when a camera flashed to my left. “Are Chat Noir and Tiger together? Does this heartfelt scene mean that LadyNoir is officially over?”

I turned with a slack-jawed expression towards a group of crazy fangirls with all their smartphones directed at us.

Adrien jumped up beside me and started waving his arms frantically, “No, no, no! Tiger and I are not-”

I took a step forward and tripped onto Adrien as I stumbled over a rock. Adrien had his arms outstretched and caught me in his arms like a scene out of a bad romantic comedy. My horrified face turned to all the cameras and new waves of squealing.

“Have I told ever told you I hate you yet?”

“Probably.”

“I really hate you right now.”

 


	27. Felix's Starts New Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Long time, no post. I'm glad I finally got the chance to update, even if I didn't edit this chapter as much as I wanted to. 
> 
> Basically this chapter leads into a more serious one as Felix starts activities that defy his agreement with Adrien and Marinette. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! :D

 

**Felix**

 

“So Abigail is the peacock miraculous holder and is somehow working for Hawk Moth because if you combine the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous, you have the power to bring back the dead.” Adrien relayed what I said to him.

“Oh look, some more fanart of you guys.” Plagg laughed over my shoulder. "Oh, and this new one has you guys undressing~"

“It’s been a week! Don’t people have anything better to do than to draw us together?” I slammed the laptop shut and shoved it onto the left sofa cushion. “Why are girls so into shipping two dudes together anyway? Vagina is way better.”

“Felix, it’s not like they know we’re related.”

“Even if they did, people would still ship. It’s like the whole Pinecest thing.” I shuttered.

“Pinecest?”

“From Gravity Falls. Have you been living under a rock?”

“I’m sorry I’m not as obsessed with cartoons like you are.”

“You should be.” I stood up. “How could Ladybug let those fangirls do this!” I muttered. Marinette laughed at me for a full hour as I demanded that she stop the fangirl mess. She could be cruel sometimes with her dumb...white smile and her stupid, shiny blue eyes that reminded me of the sky. Her clear creamy skin and pink lips that curled into a shy smile when she blushed-

“She can be cruel at times, and even I have to admit it’s a little funny.” Adrien spun around in his office chair.

“Adrien, do you want to have sex someday?”

Adrien gave me a blank, wide-eyed look, “Yes.”

“Being shipped with a guy will not get you laid unless it’s with the guy.” I threw my hands up.

Adrien’s face contorted in confusion like the innocent cinnamon roll he was, “I don’t understand shipping.”

“You don’t want too.” I sat back down on the couch. “I should probably check out the Mayor’s apartment for the next clue.”

“I thought we agreed you shouldn’t do his little missions anymore.” Adrien’s voice turned cold. He narrowed his green eyes at me from across the room.

“Yeah, but Hawk Moth doesn’t know that we agreed I should stop. He’s probably still waiting for me to find that dumb clue.” I really couldn’t afford to look stupid in front of Hawk Moth because I needed to use the guy in order to keep Adrien and Marinette safe. I needed him to consider me a possible ally or big enough threat not to hurt them. If playing his stupid game kept him happy, then damn I'd do it. If Hawk Moth didn’t find me useful, he would dispose of me anyway. I couldn't save Mari or Adrien if I was dead.

“So don’t do it and he’ll get the message.”

“Then we won’t be able to solve the mystery or figure out who Hawk Moth is.”

“Why don’t you just ask your girlfriend?”

“Abigail is not my girlfriend.” I sighed and placed my head in my right palm as I reluctantly opened the silver laptop again. “Why does more fanart keep popping up! Screw Tumblr and Instagram.” Abigail was probably just acting the part of girlfriend for Hawk Moth’s plan, I thought bitterly. I wasn't about to be oblivious Beast Boy with Slade pullin' the strings.

“That’s not what this article says.” Plagg dropped my phone on my head and laughed.

“Ugh, I’ve almost had enough internet for today.” I yawned and scrolled through the article that insisted that Abigail and I were secretly an item as a grainy picture caught her wrapped around me. I recalled her fingers in my belt loop, her angry voice that threatened me intensely, and of course her super hot body as it swayed against mine. “This doesn’t prove anything, so we got caught walking somewhere at night. Big whoop.” I flung my phone to the left of the sofa. I really needed to learn to be more careful with expensive, breakable technology. I suppose I did have the money to buy a new phone with the perfume campaign commercial money. Gabriel only let me have half of the pay and insisted that the rest 'be put towards my education.' I should become a stripper just to spite him.

“Certainly looks like you’re in love to me.”

“You can’t even see my face in the picture Plagg.” I jutted my lower jaw out. I hoped Marinette hadn’t seen the picture yet. I wondered if she thought Abigail and I were together? That didn’t really make sense though since she kissed me on the roof last week. Adrien didn't know that we had done that. We both decided he didn’t need to know, mainly I really didn’t want him to ever find out. Mari hadn’t tried to kiss me again. We had only hung out once during this past week, and she never made a move. Maybe I was just a curiosity- I was a hot foreign boy living in Paris. Maybe she just wanted to say she’s kissed an American. That didn’t sound like Marinette to me, but some part of me couldn’t accept that she might really be interested in me. How could she be with Adrien Agreste pursuing her? Adrien was the golden boy, the perfect son.

“You couldn’t even figure out where the clue was in time.” Adrien plopped down beside me.

“I totally could.”

“You can barely make your way around the manor, much less a giant hotel filled with people and cameras.” Adrien pulled out his smartphone.

“I am perfectly capable of finding my way around the manor!” I crossed my arms and glared at him with his stupid hair and face and that damn smirk that’s just like mine. I couldn’t help but wonder if Adrien, at least to Marinette, was hotter than me? The fashion world compared us in everything from the one shoot to my debuting commercial, but what did Marinette think?

“I’m thinking we need some help.”

“I don’t like where this is headed.” I leaned away with a grimace. “I’m not speaking to that girl again.”

“Chloe is…” Adrien bit his bottom lip.

“I thought we already established she was awful.”

“Okay, she’s awful. But, she’s my first friend. I can’t just throw her out of my life.”

“Sure you can. It’s easy Adrien.” I crumpled up a piece of paper and shot it like a basketball into the nearest trashcan. “Just like that.” I spread my arms wide and grinned at him.

“That’s a little harsh.”

“Trash belongs in a trashcan.” I cracked my knuckles. Would Mari have laughed? Would she have taken Adrien’s side that I was being too harsh? I picked up my phone and hovered over her name. I wondered if I could get her to laugh if I texted what happened. I should have had Adrien record me doing it and snapped her.

“Hey Chloe, I was wondering if you would want to hang out with Felix and I today?” Squawking sounded from the other side of the phone. “Great, we’ll be there in an hour.

“I don’t want to go.” I just wanted to spend the day with Mari and Alya. We could go get ice cream like last time, and I’d share with Marinette. Her lips would be sticky and sweet once more, but this time I would kiss her. I could almost feel her sweet lips under mine.

“Well, I’m not going alone.” Adrien stretched his arms over his head. He tilted his head at me and shot me a weird look. “Is something wrong? You’ve been awfully spacy today.”

“Nothing!” I said back too quickly.

“So I have been meaning to ask you something.” Adrien looked down at his wooden floor with great interest. “Do you-do you like Ladybug?”

I choked on my spit. “No.” I wheezed.

“But, you said she was really hot that one time Abigail stabbed you then the Eiffel tower you guys looked pretty close.” Adrien stared at me as he leaned back. “You looked pretty close on the roof that other night too.” He bobbed his left knee as he watched me.

I opened my mouth when I stopped coughing. I closed it. What do I even say to that? Hey, I never stopped pursuing Mari like I said I would and she totally kissed me and wants me to live here even though you’d throw me off a building if you found out? “Um, I guess she’s pretty awesome.” I scratched the right side of my nose and looked away. My ability to lie smoothly left me. I could feel Adrien’s green eyes bore into the left side of my turned face as I gazed out the window.

“If you like her, you should tell her.” Adrien said cooly.

You wouldn’t say that if you knew it was Mari, I thought. I bit my bottom lip and shrugged, “I’m supposedly dating Abigail and Ladybug knows my secret identity so…” Where was I going with this? “I obviously can’t pursue her.”

Adrien’s face became blank. “That literally made zero sense.”

“I don’t have to make sense, I’m beautiful!” I retorted and stood up.

“Was that a reference to something?”

“God, yes it was Adrien.” I rolled my eyes. “Now it’s not funny if you don’t know what reference it is.”

“Maybe we should just stay here and eat camembert.” Plagg curled on top of Adrien’s head. “It beats having to listen to Chloe.”

“Plagg, not you too.” Adrien shooed Plagg off the top of his head.

“Yes, him too! Seriously now that I’m here you don’t need her as a friend.” I muttered.

“Felix, you can’t just avoid my question forever!”

Oh just watch me Agreste.

* * *

 

“I can’t believe that I’m going to the gala with Alicio!” Chloe squealed for the 500th time today. “Everyone is going to be so jealous.” She wrapped a thin arm around my neck as she pulled me in for selfie. “I’m going with an international rock star! I bet he’ll fall madly in love with me and I can get him to play one of our school dances. Wouldn't that just be the coolest Adrikins?”

I wanted to shove her away, or tell her something sarcastic but Adrien simply glared at me to go along with it. I sighed in defeat, “I can’t believe it either Chloe. You're just so lucky.” I grimaced. Every single selfie looked like I wanted to strangle her with my grey eyes screaming murder.

“So Chloe, where does your dad keep important stuff again?” Adrien asks in a relaxed manner. He lazily held his phone and scrolled through something-probably Instagram.

“Why do you want to know?” Chloe pressed me in for another selfie.

“Because I think he has a special dress design from Gabriel stashed away,” I whispered in her ear. “It would be a shame if we couldn’t find it.”

Chloe froze and her cheeks turned red. “Well, I…” She bit her lower lip.

I forced myself to breathe hotly in her ear, “Aren’t you up for a little adventure?” I teased. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little danger?"

Chloe straightened her back, “No!” Her voice squeaked.

“Good.” My fingers brushed over her thigh as I pulled away. It was cruel to play with her, but it’s not the worst I’ve ever behaved to get something. Old habits die hard, I grinned to myself.

“He keeps a lot of stuff in his desk under the fake cover in the top right drawer. He doesn’t know that I know it’s fake, but I can get the key easily.” Chloe tried to sound confident as she almost tripped over her rug.

“Careful,” I warned in a deep voice. It’s almost like I’ve detached myself from the nerdy me to become...well I guess the guy I wished I was? The hot playboy once again. I’m not sure what triggers it exactly, but I think it’s snooty rich girls.

Chloe shuffled stiffly to her door, “Adrien, are you coming?”

“Of course.” Adrien dug his elbow in my ribs as he shot me a mean glare.

I shrugged guiltily with a wide smile. I knew he’d catch me, but it’s fun messing with Chloe. “It’s a shame she’s so awful. I kind of forget how hot she is like this.” I whispered to Adrien.

“Do you go after everything in a skirt?”

“Chloe is not wearing a skirt, she’s wearing tight white jeans that make her butt look yummy.” If I hadn’t had two other far hotter girls into me, I might have messed around with Chloe this summer. My mind raced to Marinette with her cute smile, and Abigail with her creamy skin and blood red hair. I had a tough cross to bear.

“Gross, she’s like our cousin.”

“But, she’s not our cousin.” I winked.

Adrien gagged, “Bro, no. Just no.”

I snickered at Adrien’s dismay, it’s not like he knew I wasn’t serious. I faced forward to follow Chloe as she led us down the hallway. She had a little sway in her hips as she walked. I wondered if Marinette would walk like that if she realized I stared at her ass? I rubbed my chin then shook my head, she’d probably just punch me off a roof embarrassed or fall of the roof herself.

“Just because daddy isn’t here right now doesn’t mean we have all day. We probably only have an hour before his meeting is over.” Chloe pushed open the office. “Daddy is super forgetful, so he leaves spare keys taped under his keyboard.” Chloe sped over to the large, important-looking desk. She lifted the keyboard and voila there was a line of five keys of varying sizes. “I think it’s this one.” Chloe picked up the smallest key and fiddled with something out of my vision.

I walked around the large desk and stood behind her. There were official looking papers, a family photo, and a small mint green envelope. I picked up the envelope and searched its contents. There was a small calligraphy invitation written in French, and from my limited knowledge of French, it read wedding invitation. Also, it just looked like one.

“That thing is ancient.” Chloe plucked it out of my hands. Her eyes glanced over the invitation and her face fell. “This isn’t it...” Her voice was a whisper as she shoved it back into the mint envelope.

“Could it be on the other side?” I asked. I needed to see it again.

Chloe glanced at me and then Adrien. She bit the corner of her bottom lip and turned back to me with wide blue eyes.

I think I understood, “Was that…” I coughed.

Chloe didn’t answer, but she really didn’t need to. I could tell now that the invitation had been for Gabriel and Adrien’s mom. My instincts told me that was a clue, but was it THE clue? I scratched my chin as I pulled the invitation out again to snap a picture of it without either of them noticing. My gut nagged at me. That couldn’t have been the clue Hawk Moth wanted me to find. I was beginning to doubt that Hawk Moth was Gabriel. Why would he have me find his own wedding invitation? “Chloe, is there anywhere else your dad would keep stuff? Like old pictures, stuff from high school.”

“Probably his room?”

“Do we you think we have time?” Adrien stepped between us.

“He’ll be in this office when he comes back after his meeting so…” Chloe’s voice started to trail off with saturated doubt.

“Please Chloe, it’s so important we find that dress sketch. Just imagine if we could have father design it for you.” Adrien elbowed me again.

“Yes.” I chirped in agreement.

“Well if it means I get to look a million times better than Marinette-” Chloe flipped her ponytail, “Then I guess I’ll do it.”

So that Chloe had returned.

 

**Adrien**

 

I didn’t like how Felix had flirted with Chloe to get her to help us. Chloe is like a cousin to me, so it’s weird to picture her in any other way than that. I let the Marinette comment slide this time, but soon we’d officially be a couple. I would have to put Chloe in her place after that. We left the mayor’s hotel office and started to head down the long hallway.

“Well isn’t this a surprise to see three sexy blondes in one place.” Alicio purred. "I suppose this could be the beginning of a joke~" Alicio sauntered from his hotel room, "Three blonds came through my hall, and one ended up in my room~"

“What are you doing here!” Felix jumped back at the sound of his voice.

Alicio flashed a lazy smile and flicked a strand of tawny hair moving closer, “Oh I was just about to go out and about, but now I think I’d rather stay in and see how that joke ends.” Alicio’s predatory gaze fell to Felix the closer he got. “I never did get to dance with you, Felix. It was rude of you to disappear the other night.”

Felix disappeared? “What is he talking about. I thought you were with him and Abigail the whole night until those bank robbers drove by…”

Felix’s grey eyes flickered between me and Alicio, “Well I-I will have to give the full story later.”

“I’d love to hear it.” Alicio snaked his arms openly around Felix’s neck. “Why don’t you come to my suite and tell me all about it?” Alicio’s sultry voice dripped honey. I realized he was probably offended, but was playing it off. He did have a huge ego, and he probably felt insulted by Felix’s actions.

I back myself by Chloe conflicted. On one hand, Felix had lied- well chose to keep information from me again. On the other hand, could I really just leave him to Alicio? I turned to Chloe who had already pulled her phone out. “Hey, why don’t we go ahead while you tell Alicio the whole story.” I grabbed Chloe’s arm. “If you don’t catch up, we’ll find you!”

“No, wait!” Felix shouted as Alicio started to drag him down the hall whispering sweet nothings in French. He said something about his bed and Felix on it.

Maybe Felix rubbed me the wrong way today, but I couldn’t muster up any feelings of pity for him.

“Daddy’s room is right over here,” Chloe whispered and peeked around a corner. “There’s a camera by his room that we’ll need to cover if we want to sneak in without him knowing.”

Plagg kicked me from my shirt pocket, “I can do it.” He whispered.

“Chloe, I think there’s a bug on your neck!” I swatted her neck with a somewhat hard thud.

“Ew! Adrikins, did you get it?”

Plagg flew out of my pocket and turned the camera to face the exit door that was behind it.

“Yes, I got it, Chloe. You’re good.” I announced awkwardly as Plagg flew back into my pocket while Chloe was stilling jumping around disgusted. “Come on, let’s make this fast.”

 

**Felix**

 

“So basically I ran away from you and Abigail, but I did have something come up. I just needed to run back home-to the Agreste manor I mean.”

“I think your actions display your intentions perfectly clear.” Alicio’s tone turned serious. “You obviously forgot condoms and were so embarrassed about it you ran home.”

“No! I don’t even have any condoms right now!” I threw my arms up in frustration. No matter how many times I told this guy I wasn’t interested, he never got it!

“Don’t worry I have some.” He winked.

“No!” I stood up frustrated. “I am not having sex-”

“Clearly not. You’re obviously standing fully clothed.”

“Could you cut the sarcasm for literally one minute?”

“I can only try, mon cher.”

“Look Alicio, I am not interested. I love women-”

“Me too. Women are fun.” Alicio smiled.

I facepalmed myself, “What I’m trying to tell you is that I am not interested in you sexually. I’m straight and I already have like two…” Was Marinette even interested? “Okay well, one for sure. Abigail is really interested in dating me.”

“Okay, so?” Alicio wasn’t perturbed at all. He looked at me like I was saying something incredibly stupid.

“Aren’t you...upset?”

“Should I be?” Alicio flipped his wavy hair that curled around his neck in an exasperated manner, “I hate to break it to you Felix, but most people aren’t a 100% straight. I think you’re just shy.” Alicio flipped out a cigarette. "Just like most people are monogamists."

“That’s not it.”

“I’ll just win you over with my charm and good looks eventually.” Alicio blew a puff of smoke in my face.

God, I needed a cigarette. “I doubt that.” I pulled out my phone to text Adrien again. How could that douchebag run off and leave me, I thought angrily.

“Want one? I have something stronger if you’re interested.” Alicio’s golden brown eyes danced.

“Nope. A cigarette is just fine.” I took the spare from between his fingers and lit the end. I took a deep inhale as I savored the cancer stick.

“You know, I thought I heard from Adrien that you quit smoking.” Alicio leaned closer to me from the bed. The whole scene was awkward: I was stood trying to ignore him, and he just sat on the crisp white bed with a look that was far too happy.

“I am, it’s just been stressful. I didn’t think they allowed smoking in hotels.”

“It’s France. Everyone smokes here. So what has been on that pretty mind of yours?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Just stuff.”

Alicio snorted, “Typical guy answer. Let me guess…” Alicio stared up at me with half-lidded eyes, “You’re in love with someone else, but want to have sex with Abigail? I don’t blame you, her personality isn’t the best. Not everyone can be as blessed as you or moi.”

His tone and implication irritated me, “Abigail is actually really cool.” I said icily.

“Mmm? I always thought she annoyed since you happen to run away from her so much.” He blew out a halo of smoke, "I'd be happy to take her off your hands. That would leave you free for someone else~"

“I don’t run away from her! I’m just busy.” I turned away from him.

“To be with Adrien’s girlfriend?”

I froze in place. A lump caught in my throat. I coughed, but the words I wanted to say died on my tongue.

“Oh please, it’s so obvious you’re in love with Marinette. She’s pretty, very pretty.” Alicio twirled an unlit cigarette in his hand, “But, I don’t think she’s your type, Felix. You have too much experience, you’re older than her, Gabriel would never approve of you two together, and why would you ever give up an rising model for her?” Alicio cringed his nose. "It's obvious you're going to be the bartering piece for Gabriel. I'm surprised he hasn't tried arranging a marriage for you already. I'd happily pay to throw my name in the ring."

I stood there as I let his words roll over me. “Fuck you.” I pressed the cigarette out in a cup on the nightstand.

“It’s just my opinion based on what I’ve observed so far.” His black eyebrow cocked upwards, "Am I wrong?"

I let Alicio’s words fall off my shoulders as I left his room. “Your observation skills are shit.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Well nothing I found was anything useful. Chloe and I couldn’t even find anything from college or high school that he would want to keep.” I yawned as I walked along the Paris street with Felix on my right side. “How was being harassed by Alicio?”

“Same as always. That guy doesn’t know when to quit.”

I noticed that Felix smelled like cigarette smoke, and his nose twitched when we passed a group of smokers. “You didn’t smoke with him, did you?”

“It was just one.”

“That’s how it starts.” I sighed. “You realize Father is going to notice now and take away our free Sunday’s now.”

“No, he won’t.” Felix huffed.

“What are you going to do, lie?” I raised my left brow.

“I’m just not going back for awhile.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I turned to Felix.

“I just have plans tonight.” Felix rubbed the back of his neck.

“With who?” I asked sharply.

“Just plans with...someone. Bye!” Felix burst through a crowd of people to run to the other side of the street.

“Felix!”

 

**Felix**

 

“Hey, so do you think you can help?” I held my phone close to my ear.

“Felix, this is child’s play,” Macee answered. “All I need you to do is get me the means to do it. We need to figure out how they communicate, and we’re in. We can track the phone calls and estimate a parameter of the area Hawk Moth is located in. In theory, we could do the same thing with the akumas, but since you know who the Peacock is…”

“It’s easier. I follow you.” I rounded a corner that neared Macee’s home.

“Don’t worry about my parents or Max. No one is home but me, and I can finally update that shitty suit of yours.”

I realized I was defying Mari’s orders not to use Macee, and created another secret from Adrien. Again. Maybe I was just the kind of guy to ruin his life with secrets. “Don’t get too cocky, Macee. You wouldn’t even be able to reach my suit if I held it above my head.”

 


	28. Felix Falls into a Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to all the lovely readers who comment on my story :) It is noted and appreciated!

 

**Adrien**

 

“Hey, Mari.” I waved awkwardly outside her complex.

Mari smiled down at me from her balcony. “H-hi Adrien. I wasn’t expecting you today.”

Her stutter made my heart clench, “I figured I would surprise you.” I rocked back on my heels. “May I come up?”

Mari giggled, “Yes you may good sir.”

I ran up her stairs and threw open her door since I already saw both her parents in the bakery beforehand.

Mari met me half way down the narrow steps that led to her room with a shy smile in her red pajama shorts and a blue tank top. “Do you mind waiting a minute for me to change?”

“N-I mean yeah I can.” I stuttered as I gazed at her creamy legs before she turned back upstairs. Her hips swayed as she climbed and her butt...no! I turned my head, “I am a gentleman.” I sighed.

“So why are we here?” Plagg sighed from my pocket. “It’s too early to be flirting with girls.”

“Plagg, it’s 11. I’m spending time with Mari today since the gala is next week. I have to model for the final fittings for the formal wear she made.”

“And probably make out some more.” Plagg made an obnoxious kissing noise.

“Not unless she wants to,” I said proudly. I, Adrien Agreste, would be the perfect boyfriend unlike a certain half-brother of mine. “She’ll finally see there’s no real competition between Felix and me because…”

Marinette opened the trap, “You can come up now.”

“She’ll love me,” I whispered before I climbed the narrow steps.

 

**Felix**

 

“Then order the fries.”

“It’s not my cheat day though.”

“But, you want the fries. So, order the fries.”

“Do you want me to get fat?” Abigail growled.

“You’re not going to get fat, Jesus. I will split them with you.” I sighed. “Est que ce…” I blushed as the McDonald’s employee gave me a funny look. I turned to Abigail who flashed me a small smirk.

“S'il vous plaît une ordonnance de frites et de nuggets de poulet. Merci.” Abigail grabbed our ticket. “So French hasn’t been coming along that well, has it?”

“It’s only been like a month. I’m working on it.” My face burned with embarrassment, so I ran my fingers through my hair.

“You’re cute like this.” Abigail chuckled as she grabbed out shared drink from out of my hands.

“I swear if you get water…”

“Water is the best drink option available.”

“You don’t come to McDonald’s and get water. You get Sweet Tea.”

“They don’t have Sweet Tea in France.” 

“That’s strike one against France. Who can live without Sweet Tea? I want to taste the diabetes forming inside me.” I stuck my tongue out at Abigail as she filled our cup with water.

“Most of the world.” Abigail pressed the straw against her lips and wrapped her left arm around mine. She felt warm against me from the summer sun that had beat down on us from all the sightseeing she crammed into our date. Her long red hair was twisted into an intricate braid that was far out of my abilities for hair styling, and she wore beige shorts that made her legs look long and a white flowy tank top that drew all my attention to her chest. She really did know how to play me.

“Order 43.” A man placed down our tray in perfect English.

“I really need to learn French,” I muttered and picked up the tray with Abigail still attached.

“You know I am really quite talented being able to carry this one-handed.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Chat’s sidekick.” Abigail tone dripped sarcasm.

“Ghee, thanks.” I felt eyes on us as we walked up the stairs that lead to an outdoor patio. “This is the fanciest McDonald’s I’ve ever been too.” I placed our tray on a table farthest from where anyone was sitting. There was only one guy out there anyway with a cigarette in his mouth as he stared at his phone. 

“I haven’t eaten McDonald’s since I was a child. My dad took me once without my mom knowing. She didn’t want me eating fast food.” Abigail took a reluctant bit of her chicken nugget.

“What did your mom do again?” I asked as I watched her face.

Abigail looked as if she were trying to decide if she liked it or not, “She was a model. She worked with Gabriel and for-” Abigail shut her mouth and took another bit.

That reaction was a clue, “Who?” I reached under the table and skimmed her inner thigh as I went for her left hand.

Abigail seemed unaffected by this, “Channel, other brands, but it really doesn’t matter anymore. She worked so much I hardly knew her.”

I pulled my hand back with the bitter taste of failure. I obviously couldn’t play Abigail like she played me when she felt like it, I realized with a quiet sigh. But, she didn’t realize something. I had placed a tracker on her phone. I unlocked it for Macee to hack with his step by step instructions, and I betrayed her. Yet, we still sat here sharing food, memories. I wondered if she would still like me if she knew I was about to ruin her only chances of bringing her family back.

 

**Adrien**

 

“Marinette, you did a great job.” I smiled. “I’m afraid I’ll rip a seam if I keep it on much longer, but I can’t help it!” I grinned at her. “I love it.”

Marinette’s face glowed red, “Adrien, you’re too kind. It’s nowhere near as good as something your dad would make.”

“You’re right.” I kneeled in front of her as she sat blushing on her office chair. “It’s a million times better.”

“Well don’t let me break up the proposal.” Mr. Dupain poked his head up through the trapdoor.

“Papa!” Mari threw her arms up. Her face scrunched in horror as she shot her father a glare.

“I just wanted to let you know dinner is ready. Adrien will be joining us?”

“Of course Mr. Dupain. I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Will Felix be joining us?” Mrs. Cheng’s voice carried upstairs.

“Oh no, I think he had plans today. I haven’t seen him since our language lesson this morning.”

 

**Felix**

 

“Again,” Abigail demanded as she trailed a finger down my spine.

I pressed my lips against hers for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening as the setting sun illuminated the whole park in an orange glow. “Your hair looks like it's on fire.” I murmured against her lips.

“You look like…” Abigail’s breath sounded shaky as she leaned in to suck my bottom lip. She pressed herself closer against me and was finally in my lap. “You look like…” Abigail’s green eyes reminded me of a cat’s as the sunset made her whole being glow. It looked like the human version of flame princess  “An angel.” Her voice was a husky whisper. “You look-” She pressed herself into the crook of my neck. “You look too good to be real.”

I had my left arm wrapped around her shoulders as I held her there. My right hand rested on her thigh and the top of her left hand as her thumb ran over mine gingerly. “I think my amazing makeout skills must have blown your mind because that’s the worst description I have ever heard of myself.”

Abigail nipped at my neck, “It’s just what came to mind.”

“Because there’s a statue that kind of looks like an angel if you squint right in front of us?”

Abigail laughed, “Possibly.” She buried herself closer to me as she pressed her chest against mine and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Would you take a picture of us? I want to save this moment.”

I blinked at her request, “Sure. Yours or mine?”

“Mine please.”

My heart raced as I pulled her phone from her wristlet purse, “How do you unlock it again?”

“You know how to. I saw you doing it earlier.”

Fuck, “I have no idea-”

“What were you hoping to find? Nudes, messages from other guys?” Abigail grinned. 

Shit, “I was just curious.” I couldn’t even recall anything interesting from what little I saw.

“That sounds like you were jealous to me.” Abigail laughed against my chest as an old woman in a black coat passed by us with a glare.

“Not really.” I unlocked Abigail’s phone code with a swoosh and pulled up her camera. I held the phone in the right of my hand as Abigail sat up in my lap. I gave the camera a half-hearted smile as Abigail kissed my cheek. We did look good together. Maybe we would make a cute couple, I thought. As I adjusted my positioning for another picture, I wondered would Mari and I look this good together?

 

**Adrien**

 

“Thank you both for having me.”

“No problem Adrien, we’re just happy you’re taking our little Mari to such a big event next week.”

“T-That’s right!” Mari jumped. “It’s next week-I have so much to do!” Marinette turned from the door. “I’ll text you later!”

I smiled as I watched the apartment door close. My heart thudded in my chest as I turned to leave down the steps. “Marinette Agreste.” I sighed wistfully. “Has a nice ring to it, right Plagg?”

Felix

“You’re sure it’s out of town?” I stood on a rooftop that faced south.

“I’m sure it is, but that doesn’t make any sense. Think about it, Felix.” A crunch sounded from the other side of the phone. “All the akuma attacks take place in Paris. Why would Hawk Moth live south of Paris? I’m not really sure how the whole process works, but releasing a butterfly outside of Paris and expecting the butterfly to reach it’s target-”

“Isn’t realistic. I get it. I’m not a total idiot. So, you think Hawk Moth knew about our plan?” It seemed like he knew our plan.

“Possibly, or he already had multiple hideouts in place.” More crunching sounded from the line. “We could always try tracking the akumas and tracing their flight pattern.”

“Well, what was one of the places in town that was near me? I could try checking it out.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Nope, but it’s worth a shot. Tell me where to go.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Shouldn’t we try and find Felix? It’s been hours since we’ve seen him.”

“Plagg, Felix is probably just off somewhere with Abigail.” I yawned.

“Abigail who is working for Hawk Moth, remember!” Plagg smacked my cheek.

“Well, I’m not walking in on them having sex.” I pulled the covers over my head and continued to text Mari.

“Look, I think he’s in trouble. Don’t you remember last time he ran off by himself?” Plagg tried to yank my phone out of my hands.

“Fine. Why don’t I just text him?”

 

**Felix**

 

“What is this place?” I whispered into my earpiece. I had dropped off anything personal, like my cell phone, off at Macee’s before I headed here. I couldn’t afford to lose anything important if I got into a fight. The apartment complex was old looking, and not in the good historical sense either. It looked decrepit with broken windows and spray paint graffiti all over. “This doesn’t look like any place Hawk Moth would hang out?”

“I have a bad feeling about this Felix. Maybe you should just turn back.” Macee’s voice rang in my ear as I slipped through a broken window.

“Relax. I’m just going to look around.” I stared at an almost empty, but extremely dusty room. The wooden floor creaked under me with each step. I left the small room, which I could only assume was a one-room apartment or office and headed into the stairwell. I climbed rickety steps gingerly while I scanned my surroundings. “Gross.”

“What?”

“There’s cockroaches on the floor.” I stepped over the black bugs as they scuttled across the floor landing. “What was this place?”

“An old office building/ apartment complex.”

“Who owned it?”

“Let me check.” I heard taps and clicks through the speaker. “Whoa.”

“Whoa, what?”

“The guy who used to own that building was a big shot fashion designer back in the day.”

“What was his name?” I stopped at the third landing that neared the roof.

“Laurent Beauchene. He had a large career in multiple areas.”

“Had?”

“Well, apparently no one has seen him since 2006.”

“Okay, that’s super suspicious.”

“I know what you’re thinking Felix, but the guy is 58 years old. If he’s still alive.”

“58 isn’t that old. Slade Wilson is that age and he's like super badass.” I opened one of the only two doors on the last floor.

“Yeah, but it sounds like he was struggling with his health. Well from this 2006 article anyway. Doesn't say the reason why though.”

The room had an old desk backed against the wall with an old disconnected wall phone that laid on its side. “I just think the whole thing sounds suspicious.” I walked around the office. There were dents and small holes in the left wall. “Did the guy have any ties to Agreste?”

“None that I can find offhand.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Okay Plagg, it’s been an hour. We better go out.” I stood up from my bed and stretched.

“Finally!” Plagg flew in my face. “You should have listened to me an hour ago.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure he’s just out patrolling. Plagg, transforme-moi!”

 

**Felix**

 

I pulled out all the desk drawers I found in one of the rooms. Nothing was inside them. I checked for false bottoms.”Nothing.”

“Hello, Felix.”

I jumped at the voice change. “How did you-”

“That’s not important right now, is it?” His voice was cold.

I suddenly felt like I was Robin in Teen Titans with Slade whispering his villainous plots in my ear. “What do you want?”

“To tell you I’m severely disappointed in your performance.”

The floor rumbled beneath my feet and I heard whispering voices echoing off the walls. “Sorry to disappoint you. Better get in my disappointed line behind Gabriel.”

“This is your last warning Finch. Your life can get messy if you don’t play along.”

Smoke wafted under my nose, and I turned back towards the stairs. “I never said I wouldn’t play along.” Shit, I was right. Hawk Moth was going to kill me if I wasn't useful!

“No, but you’ve taken far too long. The clue was already moved.”

I watched angry orange flames engulf the steps. “Then I’ll find it.” This whole situation had been one big trap-one big point to make. I looked out the still intact windows. I raised a desk drawer I had pulled and smashed it against the window.

“I’m starting to doubt your detective abilities. You wasted a full week of mine already, so why should I even give you a second chance?”

I raised the desk drawer again and smashed it again. The window cracked. I raised it again, and again until finally, it shattered. “I can find it. I found this place.”

“You found a trap. But, I will give you one last chance Felix Finch. You’ll find it in the Mayor’s political office. If he doesn’t move his belongings again.”

“What is it?” I yelled frustrated. “You always tell me to find 'it', but never say what it is!” I jumped out the window and flung myself to the right side of the wall. I needed to climb down quick. "What does any of this have to do with your plans? What does this have to do with me?"

“You’ll figure it out eventually Felix. When the time is right.” His voice paused. “And you might want to start running Felix.”

“Vous êtes en état d’arrestation!” Flashing lights appeared under me as I clung to the outside wall.

“They just said you’re arrested. You really shouldn’t commit arson, Felix. It isn’t becoming of you.” Hawk Moth chuckled in my ear.

“You asshole.”


	29. Felix's chase and Adrien's Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,  
> track is almost over, so I'll get to update more often again. Hurray :D Also this is probably the longest chapter I've written to date. It's has a lot of moving parts into it that lead into some almost discovers...
> 
> Recap: Felix is the only one who knows everyone's identity except Hawk Moth. Abigail knows Felix's and Hawk Moth's obviously since she works for him. Adrien know's everyone's except Hawk Moth and Marinette's and same goes for Mari. The only people left in the dark are Mar and Adrien XD. Felix's Birthday chapter is coming up soon about two weeks after the ever awaited gala. Felix will be turning 18, he's only 17 right now. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> p.s. Pardon is basically excuse me/ sorry in French.

**Felix**

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” I screamed as I barely made the jump to the roof next door. I needed to get out of here. I heard shouts in French from below as a giant spotlight lit up the roof I jumped on. “Oh, I am so fucked.”

“Felix! My feed got cut. What’s going on? Why are you being placed under arrest?” Macee’s voice sounded hysterical in my ear.

“Unless you have a way for me to escape-” I sprinted across this narrow roof that was almost too far for me to make. I pressed off the roof with all the strength I could muster, I noticed that the spotlight on the ground followed me. So this is how superheroes in the movies felt when the police turned on them.

 My body flew through the air before I landed on the roof. My knees smacked brown roof tile as something whooshed past my ear. I whipped my head to the right and watched the world slow as a black net hurdled towards me. “Fuck this!” I rolled along the tilted roof to the other side and grabbed the disgusting gutter just a split second before I splattered onto concrete splatter three stories below. My heart thudded in my chest as my boots scraped against the wall. I walked my legs up the roof as I heaved myself back up. Fast, I needed to leave fast. I whirled my head around as I searched for the easiest way to escape.

“Felix, are you okay?”

“I’m alive and free for the moment. That’s about as good as it’s going to get right now.” I answered as I backed up to the other side of the roof. I sprinted before jumping to the next roof that was even further away than the last one. I was really pushing my luck tonight. “Macee, how far away am I from the Agreste manor?”

“You’re about 7 kilometers away.” Macee’s voice sounded hopeless. “Felix, I don’t think you can outrun the police for that long.”

“I can certainly try!” My feet pounded against the roofs as I switched tactics and ran diagonally. I heard the loud screech of tires swerving against pavement below that was too close for comfort.

“Felix, I think you should find Ladybug quick.”

“Gah!” I covered my face as a helicopter spotlight blinded me.  

“You’re on the news.”

“Great…”

“No one can tell who you are. Good thing you have the hood mask combo.”

“Fantastic.” I jumped off the roof and landed on a balcony. I ran through an apartment window open. “Pardon!” I shouted to a woman as I exited her front door.

“Ditch the suit.”

“Are you freaking kidding me? If I did that now, I would be discovered for sure. I’m pretty sure the police can put two and two together.” I hurled myself out a hallway window. It plopped me down near a street that was soon filled with red lights. “Oh fuck!”

“Find a train station, and change in a bathroom. I’ll try and hack the cameras.”

“Where is the nearest train station?”

“Like 70 meters away.”

“Ugh. Why isn’t life ever easy for me!” I used my grappling hook and started to run as it jerked me off the ground. I flew through the air before I swung myself onto a roof across the street.

“You need to keep going straight. I’ll tell you when to turn.” Macee’s voice rang in my ears as I pumped my legs as hard as I could.

How could all of this happen? It was just a fire, and how did Hawk Moth even frame me? I needed to escape, or find Marinette. She could convince the police to listen to reason. I hoped.

I leapt, ducked, and tumbled over random roofs with great effort as I tried to ditch the helicopter. I’ve never had to run for my life this long. I could feel my lungs burn with each sharp intake of air, and my mouth was painfully dry. I had to keep going though because everything I’ve worked towards this summer would be gone if I got unmasked. In fact, I’m pretty sure Gabriel would chain me in my room for the rest of my life. An unmasked Felix would be a public nightmare for the Agreste brand. And then my mom would have to come to Paris...

“Felix, what’s going on?” Adrien appeared to my left as he ran beside me.

“I-I” I ducked behind a larger chimney and wheezed, “I was framed.”

“Framed by who? What happened?”

“Dying, fuck.” I bent over my knees. “Running for your life..is harder than..it looks.” I gasped.

“Really? I thought you were in shape by now.” Adrien rolled his eyes.

“I just sprinted while leaping over and through buildings!”

“For 3.42 kilometers,” Macee whispered into the earpiece.

“For like 2 miles!” I leaned against the chimney.

“France uses the metric system, as does most of the world.” Adrien peeked behind us to observe the police force. “What happened anyway?”

“I was patrolling and I went to a building that Hawk Moth set on fire and is trying to frame me for arson.”

“What building? I don’t see any fires.”

“Hello, it was like two miles away and probably out now. I’ve been running for my life for the past twenty-thirty minutes. I have no idea what time it is right now.” 

“And I still don’t know what two mile is.” Adrien sassed. “But, what part of Paris were you even in?”

“I don’t know places, Adrien. The ghetto part?”

Adrien gave me an annoyed look, “We seriously need to get you acquainted with a thing called a map and road signs.” Just then Adrien’s weird paw print phone thing buzzed, “Good evening M’lady.”

“Chat Noir, Tiger, what the heck is going on?”

“Hawk Moth is trying to frame Tiger for arson,” Adrien answered. “Could you get the police to bug out of here, please bugaboo?”

“You’re lucky we’re a team.” Marinette huffed. “I’ll fix this.”

Sure enough, after an explanation from all three of us, the police gave up. All three of us had a meeting on top of the Eiffel Tower afterward.

“Felix shouldn’t go patrolling by himself anymore.” Marinette declared with her hands on her hips to challenge me.

“I am perfectly capable of patrolling by myself!”

“Yeah, but Hawk Moth seems to have something personal out for you. I think we should listen to M’lady on this one.” Adrien chimed in.

I failed to tell either of them that I had purposely gone looking for clues without either of them. That would just cause more drama between the three of us.  “Guys, I just need more training. I don’t need a babysitter.” Especially when I’m the oldest, I thought bitterly.

“Why can’t we all train together while we patrol? Ladybug and I can even take turns patrolling with you. Unless you’d rather do it together?” Adrien flashed a wide grin at Marinette.

“I’m good with either option. I think Paris has had enough of us tonight, so why don’t I patrol with Felix tomorrow and you can patrol with him the next day.”

“Sounds good bugaboo.”

“Please don’t call me that.” Marinette groaned. “I’ll see you both later!” Marinette flicked her yo-yo out and swung away.

“So, I thought you were over Ladybug?” I leaned on a bar while I watched Adrien.

“Oh, I am. I was just seeing if you’d get jealous.”

“Sure.” I yawned. “Whatever makes you sleep better at night in those Ladybug pajamas you wear.”

“Don’t speak about that in public!”

 

**Adrien**

 

“You still wear those pajamas almost every night.”

“Because they’re comfy!” I snapped at Plagg.

“You think you’d get over Ladybug now that you have Marinette.” Plagg snickered.

“I am over Ladybug.” I sighed. “I really like Marinette. She’s nice, funny, cute,-”

“Ew. Stop blubbering on before I puke up all the camembert I just ate.” 

“Then why do you bring it up?” I glared as I pulled out my smartphone from under the covers. I texted Marinette a simple Bonjour Princess; I felt like I pushed my luck when I called her princess, but she never said anything about Chat’s visits or his nickname for her. “Hey, Plagg…”

“We’re not seeing Marinette as Chat Noir again. I thought you were over that since you’re practically dating now.” Plagg grumbled.   

“Yeah, but don’t you think it would be nice to surprise her? The gala is only a few days away, and I could help take her mind off of it.” I stretched. “No lady can resist me as Chat Noir.”

“As Felix pointed out, doesn’t your suit look like something out of a bondage fetish video?”

“You make the suit!”

“Yeah, based off your personality.” Plagg snickered at me.

“You know what Plagg.” I stood up from my bed. “We’re seeing Marinette just to spite you.”

 

**Felix**

 

“I still can’t believe you didn’t call for help.” Marinette shoved me with her shoulder.

“I know, but I thought…” I sighed and stared at the colorful fountain below. “I thought I could handle it myself,” I grumbled. “Also I left my phone at...home.” The whole problem could have been solved if I hadn’t had left my phone at Macee’s place.

“You don’t have to handle everything by yourself. That’s what Chat and I are here for.” Marinette leaned a red shoulder against me. “Unless you don’t trust me?” Her voice teased.

“No, that’s not it. You’re just super busy getting ready for that ball, and I didn’t want to waste your time with something like investigating a lead.”

“But, that’s what teammates are for.” Marinette elbowed me till I turned to her. “Besides we agreed to work on the Hawkmoth investigation as a team.”

“Yeah.” My mouth felt dry as I watched the changing fountain colors reflect in her wide, blue eyes. She was too close; I could smell her strawberry scent. I should push her away-I should tell her I’m not interested. Yet, I leaned down to her. Her sharp intake of breath encouraged me to press my lips against hers.

The kiss was soft at first until Marinette deepened the kiss by biting my bottom lip, and wrapping her slender arms around my neck. Mari’s kisses were way more than I was expecting.

I blinked in shock as I watched Mari tilted face as she kissed me through half-lidded eyes. I should probably stop her, I thought to myself. I couldn’t let myself get too excited, well that was my thinking anyway until Marinette opened her mouth and I felt her tongue trace my lower lip. 

Things started to pick up fast, and thankfully we were in the dark above the colorful flashing fountain lights that cast deep blues, pinks, and greens below us. I leaned against a crevice on the roof that led towards a window so Marinette could wrap her legs around me.

“Mari?”

Mari ignored me as she forced her tongue into my mouth while she twirled a strand of my hair between her fingers.

Her kisses tonight was very, very unlike her, I realized but couldn’t force myself to stop.

Everything about the situation overwhelmed me, including the guilt that twisted my gut. I shouldn’t kiss her, I shouldn’t provoke more of this behavior, or give her worse ideas. I chanted this over and over in my mind, yet my hands tightened around the curve of her hips. I desperately wanted to know what it felt like with my bare hands, so I threw off my white gloves. I kissed her in a more controlled manner than I would normally have liked. I sucked her bottom lip as my hands moved back to her curves. My fingertips explored the spotted suit that felt like a weird latex. I didn’t dare move any higher or lower than her hips.

 

**Adrien**

 

“Mari must be at Alaya’s. I bet she’s helping her figure out hair and makeup.” I shrugged. “It’s weird that Felix hasn’t texted me back though. He’s been missing for two hours.” I jumped off Mari’s balcony. “I guess I should go look for him, right Plagg?” I smirked before I realized that I was really just talking to myself. “I need more friends.” I sighed before I leaped off into the night. 

 

**Felix**

 

“Mari-” My tone warned.

“Don’t you want to?” Mari’s hands rested on the back of my neck. “I don’t know why I didn’t just make a zipper for this thing.” She grumbled.

“I-I don’t think me being shirtless would help this situation,” I spoke carefully.

“You don’t want to?”

“That is not the reason, Mari.” I gripped her hands. “Look, I think that you’re confused- I’m confused. There’s feelings…” I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to piece together words that would reflect how I felt without pissing her off. 

“There’s feelings?” Mari’s laughed.

“I’m trying to make magic happen. Give me a moment.” I released her hand and stood up. I took a deep breath as I mentally formed what I wanted to say. “Look, I have feelings for you that I’ve never really had.”

“Oh,” Mari whispered.

That was not a reassuring oh of relief. “Yeah, and you like Adrien.” I scratched the back of my neck. “I just don’t think this is a good idea because it would upset the balance of the force.”

“Balance for the force?”

“Star Wars?”

“I’ve seen it.” Mari looked like she would burst out laughing any second.

“I’m trying super hard to be serious right now. So, I think that-” I closed my eyes. “We should probably just pretend it never happened.”

“Well, there’s something I kind of wanted to, uh, talk to you about-I mean to-I mean-” Mari covered her face. “Look I wanted to say that maybe you’re not the only one that feels that way.” Mari burst out.

I stood there blankly. “Huh?”

“Why else would I kiss you?”

“‘Cause I’m hot and foreign,” I answered dumbfounded.

“Look, I’m confused now from what you said because I thought you didn’t feel like...that.”

“Now I’m just confused by the whole thing. This is all kind of new to me.”

“But, I thought-”

“Messing around with girls does not mean I liked them.”

Mari glared at me. Aw damn.

“I mean that I respectfully treated them like a gentleman should, and did nothing with them. Ever. Virgin until marriage.” I flashed her my boyscout pose.

Mari’s frown deepened and she crossed her arms. “I kind of regret everything I just said.”

“Ugh, me too. Let’s just go back to what we were doing.” I grinned and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Mmm, how about no.” Mari bumped her nose against nose against mine.

“Uh, could we just think about everything later?” I brushed my lips against hers.

“I’m just more confused now,” Mari whispered then stared at the ground.

I pressed my lips against hers, but then I heard a cough. I immediately jumped back.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” Adrien’s voice sounded like a mixture between smugness and anger.

“Oh, Chat. Uh, hi.” Mari awkwardly stepped away from me.

“Well, M’lady. I’m a little hurt, but it’s alright. I have a girlfriend now. It’s pretty serious.” Adrien flexed. “She can’t keep her paws off me.”

Adrien didn’t sound like he was angry now, but I decided to tread carefully. I slowly backed away from the pair, “So, bye guys!” I shouted as I leapt off the roof. I landed in the park with a thud. “That was way too close.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“So, you and Tiger?” I wiggled my brow. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“Well…” Ladybug twiddled her thumbs in a very unladybug manner. “About that…”

“Huh?” My confidence fell. “Don’t tell me he’s using you?” I stood upright and smacked my baton against my palm. “I’ll kick his ass if he did anything like that to you!” That sounded too threatening coming from Chat, “I’ll get his brother to kick his ass too!” That should throw Ladybug off.

“No, it’s not that!” Ladybug waved her hands. “It’s just complicated. I’m so confused!” She yelled before she collapsed to her knees. “I need girl time, like now.”

“Well I may not be a girl, but I am your partner. You can tell me anything.” I yanked her up from the roof. “Wanna grab some ice cream and talk about it?”

Ladybug pressed her lips together thoughtfully, “You’d do that...for me?”

“Of course, I’d do anything for you.”

 

**Felix**

 

I flung myself from roof to roof. “Ugh, why did I do that!” I groaned. Now Mari could never tell Adrien she was Ladybug. Ever. I jumped down into an alleyway when I saw a shadow run towards me.

“You seem a little down tonight kitten.”

“Not now Abigail.” I face planted myself against a wall. She was the last person I wanted to see after this huge mess I made.

“Upset about getting chased by the cops earlier?”

“No. Yes.” I muttered as I pressed my forehead against the bricks.

“Want me to help?” Abigail jumped down beside me. “I could make you forget all about it?”

“Naw. Not tonight.” I flipped myself around to face her. “I just feel like being alone right now.” I scuffed my boot against the ground.

“You sure?”

“Unless you’re going to give me information on Hawk Moth, I just don’t feel like talking.” I sighed teasingly.

“Playing at that again?”

“Yeah, guess I am.” I laughed dejectedly. “I guess I better go lay in my bed. All alone as I try to figure out who Hawk Moth is before the gala. I won’t have time to be interrupted as I sink deeper into investigational despair.” I pressed my forearm across my forehead like I might faint. “I don’t know how I will go on.”

“Why don’t I join you in said bedroom?” Abigail moved closer to me with a grin.

“Nay good lady, I must bid you goodnight. Unless you’re willing to help me, I must enthrall myself with work.” I gave her a deep bow.

“Fine, what if I lead you to the next clue?”

 

**Adrien**

 

“So I’ve liked this boy for like a year, and I’ve been a total wreck around him at every turn.” Ladybug covered her face. “You wouldn’t believe all the embarrassing things I’ve done!”

“Oh, I’ve got to know now.”

“One time I left him an embarrassing voicemail asking him to the movies, and had to steal his phone to delete the message before he found out!” Ladybug’s cheeks burned red. "That's not even the half of it."

“That’s a catastrophe, M’lady.” I licked my strawberry ice cream. “What else?”

“I can’t tell you anything more than that. It’s just too embarrassing.” Ladybug sighed. “How’s your girlfriend?” 

“Fantastic. Amazing. Splendid.”

“Are you describing a person or laundry detergent?”

“I guess both right now.” I laughed. “But, she really is great.” I let out a dreamy sigh. “She’s so cute, clumsy, but she has a strong sense of justice. Did I mention she’s cute and clumsy?”

Ladybug let out a giggle, “She sounds great.”

“She’s an aspiring fashion designer too.” I held my ice cream to my check and pressed my hands together. “She’s the absolute best!” I sighed. 

“How funny.” Ladybug licked her cone.

“What?”

“Nothing-well I mean an aspiring designer in Paris isn’t exactly original. It’s also something I hope to do.”

“Maybe I can introduce you both!”

Felix

“What is this place?” I asked Abigail as I landed in a large office.

“The mayor’s office.” Abigail swung her hips as she walked over to a door on the far side of the room. “You’re lucky I took pity on you.”

“I’ll gladly accept your pity any day,” I smirked.

Abigail opened the wooden door and stood on her tiptoes. “He shoved a lot of stuff up here.”

“Who?” I asked as I closed the gap between us.

“Whose office is this?”

“Uh, the Mayor’s,” I responded dumbly. I almost forgot the mayor was Chloe’s dad. “No reason to get snippy at me. It’s been a long day.” My cheeks burned red.

Abigail lifted a box down from the high shelf. “The clue should be in here.”

Just then steps sounded from outside the office. Abigail and I froze. “Run.” I hissed.

Abigail wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted us out of the high window with a burst of her fan. 

“Wait!” But, it was too late. The closet door had been left open. Someone would know we had been in there. They would know something had been taken.

 

**Adrien**

 

“That was fun.” I yawned as I wrapped myself in my comforter.

“For you. I thought it was completely boring.” Plagg snuggled on top of my head. “Just for making me go out, I’m expecting extra camembert tomorrow.”

“Whatever you glutton.” My eyes felt heavy in the dark room. “I hope Felix is alright.”

 

**Felix**

 

“You just had to leave the closet door open!” I yelled as I ducked my head from the helicopter light.

“How should I know that we triggered an alarm?” Abigail shouted as she ran beside me. “Just get into that apartment building. We’ll just change!”

“Right, because that works in the movies. No cop would be that stupid!”

“Just trust me.” Abigail jumped onto the grey roof and sprinted towards the roof door. “Hurry!”

“I really hate you right now.” I sprinted as fast as I could. I followed Abigail through the doorway just in the nick of time.

Abigail slammed the door shut behind me. “We just need to change and get into my apartment. We’ll act like we knew nothing if the cops storm the building. They’ll leave eventually. You’re lucky I covered your stupid costume otherwise you’d be wanted by the police twice in one day.”

“First of all, my suit is great. But, I think we have a problem with your plan.” I whispered.

“Are you stuck?”

“Of course I’m stuck! I’m sweaty.” I ripped off my boots and tried to wiggle out of the onesie in the dark stairwell.

“You have clothes on under that?”

“Yes! Could you?”

“Fine.” Abigail yanked the hood section over the bulletproof padding that covered my chest and back. “Why is this so hard!” Abigail shook me as she tried to get it down my back.

“Ghees, let me do it,” I grumbled and started to pull it down over my stomach. The second hardest part was getting the stupid suit over my butt. Once that was done, I stood only in black, sweaty spandex.

“You done?”

“Yes. You still have the box?”

“Of course! I threw everything into this handy dandy bookbag.”

“When did you have a book bag?”

“I didn’t. I found it on a roof and grabbed it. How could I keep up running with you if I was carrying a box?” Abigail laughed in the darkness. “Were you too busy looking at my boobs to notice?”

Yes. “No, of course not.” My cheeks burned, and I worried Mari and I switched traits. Mari seemed way too confident tonight, and now I was blushing in the dark embarrassed by everything. I barely even realized that Abigail was holding my hand as she led us down the stairs with the confidence I couldn’t muster at all tonight.

“So my dress came in.”

“Dress?”

Abigail squeezed my hand, “The gala.”

“Oh duh, of course. I merely forgot...for a second. I really need a nap.”

“After everything that happened to you today, I bet you do.” Abigail stopped moving and a clunk and creak of a door opened to a white hallway filled with dim lights.

“My apartment is number 10.” Abigail was now wearing jeans and a black tee shirt instead of her skin-tight peacock costume.

I hadn’t even been aware she left her transformed state. I also noticed she had a bright green frog-shaped bookbag on her shoulders. “You’re scary good at things, you know that?”

“What?” She chuckled as she pulled out a lanyard of keys from her front jean pocket.

“I didn’t even notice you detransformed or put a whole box of items into a backpack while we ran away from the cops.” I stood behind her in awe. “I can barely get out of bed in the morning.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” The door opened to black. “Hang on.” Abigail went in first and I heard her shuffle around before light filled the entrance. “You may end up spending the night here.” Abigail’s voice echoed. Must be a big apartment.

“Oh?” I felt extremely throw off. Her apartment had deep chestnut colored floors and everything that I could see from the entrance wasn’t anything I expected. She had feminine looking furniture that gave off a very retro sort of vibe. It seemed too girly for the setting of her place.

“Well considering how the police are surrounding the building right now, and I can only assume they’ll storm inside any second.” Abigail appeared from around the corner. “It looks like we’ll be here awhile.” Abigail’s long red hair swayed as she turned to an unknown door. “Are you coming in?” The white door swung open to reveal her peacock themed bedroom with a huge bed in the center.

I took a deep breath and set my spray painted white boots by the door. “Of course.”

Abigail flashed me a small smile before she turned, “Are you going to take me up on my offer to spend the night? It’s already one.”

“Yeah, I’ll stay with you.” My intuition warned me I really shouldn’t. It was just going to hurt when it ended.


	30. Felix's lost clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix and Adrien share some brotherly feels, but are both still hopeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long guys, but two more chapters and then it's over! I couldn't really come up with a good title for this chapter. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy! Sorry it's a filler chapter, but the next one is part 1 of the awesome conclusion I'm planning. 
> 
> p.s. I added a hidden joke or two in here that ties into another chapter. Comment if you find it ;D I'll have it in the next chapter notes in case no one gets it.

**Adrien**

 

“Adrien, Adrien! Wake up!”

Something smacked my forehead hard. “What the hell Plagg!” I covered my forehead and sat up slowly. “Why are you such an asshole in the mornings?”

“Felix never came home last night.”

“What?” I winced as I rubbed the sore spot. “Couldn’t you have just called him for me?”

“I did! I’ve been doing that as soon as I noticed he wasn’t in his room. I was going to bug him to get me more camembert.”

“So he’s not answering?” I threw back my comforter and slipped my feet onto the cold floor. I stretched my arms over my head with a small yawn.

“No, and there was some weird noises coming from your dad’s room.”

“Oh, that’s probably just him complaining to himself about a co-worker.” I waved away Plagg’s concern.

Plagg muttered something but stopped when he saw a black and white figure on my balcony in the early morning sun.

“See, you worried for nothing.” I checked my phone’s time. “And never wake me up at 6 in the morning again Plagg. I could have slept for at least another hour.”

Felix let himself in through the glass door and pulled off his hood. He had a bright green children’s book bag in his hand. “Adrien, I have a question.”

“Okay?” I squinted at him. It was still far too early for this.

“How bad is this black eye?” Felix pulled off his mask to reveal a pulsing, blue and purple bruise that circled around his entire left eye.

“Holy Shit.” I gaped. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything! Abigail flipped out at me for no reason and punched me in the fucking face as hard as she could!” Felix threw his arms up. “She’s crazy!” Felix touched his bruise. “Crazy and hot. Ugh…” Felix covered his face with his hands.

“So you spent the night with her even though you made out with Ladybug.” I glared at him. “Real nice Felix.”

“It’s not what you think. She helped me get the next clue. We didn’t even sleep in the same bed, which is probably why she punched me.” Felix raised a gloved hand to his eye and winced.

“I COULD HAVE HELPED YOU DO THAT!”

Felix bolted over to me and smacked his gloved hand over his mouth. “Would you shut it!”

I rolled my eyes and shoved his hand off. “You shouldn’t do stuff like that! If you like Ladybug then stop being with Abigail and if you like Abigail then stop leading on Ladybug!” I snapped. Anger boiled inside me. “You're supposed to be the oldest, yet I’m always having to take care of you! It’s frustrating and you won’t even listen to me.” I clenched my fists. “I’m just tired of it. It’s like you're purposely trying to piss me off! I liked Ladybug forever and you only started pursuing her till after I admitted how I felt. You did the same thing with Marinette when I started liking her. You even promised you’d figure out Ladybug’s secret identity for me, or was that a lie too?”

Felix bit his lip while he stared at me. “It wasn’t a lie.” He whispered. “She just made me promise not to tell anyone. I never should have made that offer to you before I knew what was going on. It's her secret to reveal to you." He paused for a moment, "And you only liked her for a year. That’s not forever.”

I shoved Felix, “So you know who she is.” The accusation fell flat. I should have sounded angry. Instead, I was impressed. Even I hadn't figured it out.

Felix cringed, “Yeah. It’s honestly not that hard if you piece things together.”

I shook my head, “You’re such an asshole. Get out before I try punching you again.”

Felix reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “I know you're pissed off at me. I'm pissed off at myself right now, but you wanna know why I always wanted a brother?”

My sour expression remained. “Why?” Anger boiled inside of me, and I would be ready to punch him as soon as he finished talking.

“Because it’s the only way I’d ever have a true friend.” Felix’s voice cracked.

My heart broke too, “Well.” I turned to stare at the floor. “It doesn’t excuse your behavior.” We'd both been alone our whole lives when we could have anything in the world that we wanted except what we actually wanted. Love. Acceptance. An actual parent.

“But maybe pancakes will?” Felix offered.

“Fine, but then we need to make an action plan with the new clue.”

“Pancakes first. I’m starving.”

 

**Felix**

 

I shrugged off my uniform and shoved it under my bed this time. It needed to be washed bad. I would have to sneak into the laundry room while Gabriel and Natalie were out like last time. I threw on some basketball shorts and a tee shirt then made my way out into the white hallway and down the large steps. Gabriel never approved of me walking around the house like this, but what did I care? It was our house after all, not a museum.

My bare feet echoed through the large, empty entrance as I entered the dining room that led into the kitchen. As I approached the kitchen I heard the faintest sound of music. “That sounds like something my mom would listen to.” I stopped near the door. “My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold. My angel is the centerfold.” Something metal clanged to the ground on the other side of the door. “Does she walk, does she talk-”Another crash rang through air. “I’ve never known our chef to be so clumsy or listen to 80s music.” I crept closer afraid now. What if there was someone in the mansion like a crazed stalker for Adrien? What if she attacked our chef and is making him listen to 80s music as she preps a dish with her hair in it waiting for him to come down to breakfast in order to kidnap him!  
 My mind raced with every horror movie I’ve ever seen as I crouched down to open the door a smidge. As I peered through the opening with as much subtlety as I could muster, I saw two sets of legs. The next thing I noticed, as my gaze traveled upwards, was a shirtless Gabriel kissing my mother! Gabriel had his hands around her t-shirt covered waist and my mom had her legs wrapped around his waist. Their mouths were plastered together like they had never even heard of air!

“There is no room for Jesus!" Was the first stupid thing I said, "And what the fuck is going on!” I screamed shoving the door completely open.

My mom ripped her face away in a flash. “Oh, hi hun.” She murmured giving me a guilty wave before jumping off the counter. Her Metallica t-shirt rode up and her pajama shorts were just way too short!

“What did I tell you about cursing!” Gabriel snapped but his face was red. He could have given Marinette a run for her money.

“What did I tell you about making out with my mom!” I covered eyes. “I’m going to be mentally scarred the rest of my life! And since when did you have abs!” I peeked through my fingers at the horrifying scene.

“Felix, I think we need to talk.” My mom coughed. She patted Gabriel’s back as she moved closer to me.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say to me right now or anything that may have happened last night.” I turned away from my parents stunned. I recalled Gabriel a couple of weeks ago in the garage as he talked to his girlfriend in a lovesick voice. “Oh god, it all makes sense now!” I yelled in a wave of renewed anger. I spun back around and pointed my index finger at my mom. “You! You lied to me! You were- you planned this from the beginning. You never wanted me to come here to meet him! You just wanted an excuse to fuck him and then be with him!” I moved my accusing finger between the two of them, "You both wanted me to come here so you both could live together here! There was no summer visit!"

“Felix-” My mom reached towards me in a poor attempt to connect. Her green eyes usually filled with mirth looked sad at my outburst.

“No! Gabriel and you…” I shut my eyes. “You were both dating this whole time, weren't you?”

“We’ve only been talking since January. The dating aspect is pretty recent. ” My mom reached for Gabriel’s hand. Gabriel opened his hand to accept hers. Their fingers entwined as both stared pleadingly at me not to make a bigger deal out of it.

“I mean...I know you were dating before too. In high school. In college until a certain mother of mine got pregnant. I know you’ve both been lying to me and Adrien.”

Gabriel gritted his teeth.

“Adrien and I. Happy now dad?”

“Mildly.”

“So when were you going to own up to it? I accused.

My mom turned to Gabriel first and Gabriel just stared at her with a sigh. “We’re not sure.” Both of them admitted at the same time.

God this was already annoying, “Well I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.” I joked.

After I said this Gabriel turned to me with a prudent gaze. Oh, shit was the first thing that entered my mind. Did he figure it out? Did he figure out that I wasn’t home last night and was a part-time vigilante? Time seemed to stand still as he adjusted his glasses. Fury stormed across his face. “What happened to your face!” He snarled stomping towards me. “You have the gala tomorrow and a shoot the very next day!” He gripped my chin and tugged my face upwards to get better lighting. “Merde, what did you do?” Gabriel was livid as he squeezed my cheeks between his thumb and index finger tightly

“Oh.” Fuck. “I um may have just...fell?” I offered weakly. How would I get out of this one?

“Felix, what’s taking so long?” Adrien’s voice made us all turn to the door in panic. “I thought I heard shouting?”

“NO!” I burst out of the swing doors and grabbed his hand. “Ijustdroppedabowl.”

Adrien blinked, “Okay.”

Plagg stared suspiciously into the kitchen. “I’m going to get some camembert.” 

“You can’t!” I grabbed him. “You might get seen by kitchen staff.”

“Felix has a good point Plagg.” Adrien grabbed Plagg from out of my palm. “Just hide in my pajama pocket for now.”

“But, Adrien. Felix is hiding something.” Plagg complained.

“No! He’s being ridiculous. The only thing I’m hiding is-” Just then a shirtless Gabriel emerged from the swinging kitchen doors in only a pair of grey sweats. “Is that.”

“Father?” Adrien’s mouth hung open in shock.

“Right? Who would have guessed dad had a six pack.”

“Boys.”

“I guess we didn’t just get it from our mommas.”

“Felix.” Gabriel’s tone warned.

“Dad.”

Gabriel adjusted his glasses, “I need to have a word with both of you.” Gabriel walked towards us and pulled out one of the many chairs placed along the too large table. “Adrien, I know things have been hectic, and there have been a lot of challenges this summer to overcome and I’m sure there will be more as the summer progresses.”

Oh boy, here it comes.

“But, I just wanted to say I love you and I am very proud of the progress you’ve made this year.” Gabriel’s words coated the air making it far too thick to breathe.

“Father.” Adrien’s voice wavered.

“Also Felix’s mother Iris will be staying with us for a while.” Gabriel clasped his hands together. “She’s making us pancakes.” I could hear Gabriel grate his teeth. “But, today is merely a cheat meal. You will both be back to your regular diets especially with the gala tomorrow.”

“Right? I could put on twenty pounds in one day and my tux would make my butt look way too big.” I ran my hands over my hips. “Plus carbs just go straight to these child-bearing hips of mine.”

“Try to tone down the sarcasm for five minutes Felix.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“No promises padre.” I winked and started to beat my hands on the table like a drum.

“It’s too early for this. I need coffee” Gabriel stood up from the table.

“I want coffee too!” I shouted as he walked away.

“Felix, why did he just say that?” Adrien asked weakly. “Did someone die?” Adrien stared at the table. “He’s never this nice to me. Someone died. Did Natalie die?”

I stopped my imaginary drum solo. “No, no one died.”

“I’m not an idiot. Your both hiding something.” Adrien clenched his fists on the wide tablecloth.

“Adrien, don’t get so upset.” Plagg flew out of his pocket to pat his cheek. “Don’t you remember what I told you this morning?”

“What?” Adrien sniffed and shifted away from me.

“About the um noises?”

I cringed internally and externally, “No!” Bile rose in my throat as I smacked my hands over Adrien’s ears. “We will not ruin his innocence! He’s the only cinnamon roll we have in this family.”

“I know that’s what you're hiding from him. It’s not that gross. Besides, your mom is really ho-”

I shoved Plagg under the table. “You don’t look at my mother ever, you ugly mouse.”

“I am not a mouse!”

“Wait…” Adrien’s eyes flinted between us.

I needed to distract him, “Oh look Adrien, Marinette sent us a snap of the cake she’s helping her dad make!” I shoved my phone in his face.

“Uh, that looks really good.” Adrien’s stomach growled loudly. “Is your mom almost done with pancakes? I’m starving.”

“I’ll go check!” Plagg flew into the air.

“No, I’ll just shout.” I turned my body towards the kitchen, “ Mom! Adrien and I are dying of starvation. Please send help in the form of pancakes!” And just like that, I averted us from crisis one.

Sorry about punching you earlier Abigail texted me after breakfast.

It was uncalled for, I texted back. I was a bit pissed with her. She didn’t have to be so temperamental all the time because I wouldn’t sleep with her. I threw my phone across my bed and decided it was time to look at the next clue. Abigail had thrown all the contents into the book bag, so I’m sure I’d have to do some detective work to figure out the mystery.

“Hey.” Plagg appeared out of nowhere.

“What the hell!” I clung the bag and jumped. “Don’t do that!”

“Ghees, what are you hiding today?” Plagg raised an eyebrow and flew in my face. “You really should tell Adrien what’s going on before he freaks out again.”

“I’m not explaining any of THAT.” I shivered. “That’s Gabriel’s job.”

“I mean the Ladybug incident.”

I froze with the green bookbag in my hands. “Oh, that.”

“Yeah. So how are you going to handle it when he finds out you’ve been kissing his girlfriend?” Plagg smacked my face with his tiny, black paw.

I hung my head. “I don’t know.” I gripped the bag tighter. “And they aren’t really dating.” My denial was painfully evident, especially to me.

“What happens when she figures out you’ve been lying to her!” Plagg chucked a book at my head.

“Jesus!” I snapped as the book hit the wall. “Would you knock that off. I don’t know how I’ll handle everything.”

“I know about your Hawk Moth lead too.”

Tension filled the air. “What, do you and Tikki have private chat session?”

“Yes.”

Guess I should have expected that. “I think Gabriel is one of the best-” I paused and sighed, “Okay, he’s the only lead I got.”

“And you haven’t told Adrien about it?”

“No, of course not. That would destroy him.”

“And what if Gabriel is Hawk Moth?”

“Plagg, I really don’t have time to think about all of this,” I grumbled.

“Well I do, and you’re going to ruin your relationship with Adrien if you keep lying to him.”

“Yeah, well I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” I spilled the contents of the green bag onto the bed. Pages and pictures fluttered all over my bed in a large, messy pile. “No!” I rifled through the contents. Some were old magazine clippings of Agreste, newspaper articles about Gabriel, articles about the accident that took Adrien’s mother from the little I could read in French, some pictures from the shoot Adrien and I had that weren’t even in the Vogue magazine were piled in, a lot were of Abigail from various shoots for various brands, but all of them had the same thing scrawled on each item that read Too late . “It’s too late.” I dropped to the floor.

“How are any of these a clue?” Plagg shuffled through the pile.

“It’s not a clue Plagg. Hawk Moth or Abigail took the clue.” I hung my head. “I failed and Hawk Moth took the clue away.”

“What does that even mean?” Plagg sighed.

“It means he’s going after us because I failed. He's going to dispose of me.” I gripped a picture of Adrien and me between my hands. “He’s going to come after Adrien.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Marinette, are you ready for tomorrow?” I held my phone close to my ear in the car.

“Yeah.” Her voice is quiet.

“Is something wrong?”

There was a long pause that made my stomach drop. “Nothing, just nervous about tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry Mari, I’ll be by your side through the whole thing. The scariest part is just walking into the event, after that, it’s super boring.” I laughed relieved that she was only worried about the event. “You’ll be great.”

“What if your dad isn’t happy about you bringing me.” Marinette’s voice was a soft squeak.

“Then I’ll deal with it.” And by that I really meant Felix and I would deal with it. Even though I was annoyed by Felix’s actions recently, it was nice that I could rely on him to support me.

“Adrien, you can’t do that on my account. I can’t get on your dad’s bad side. My fashion career would be over before it started.”

“Mari.” I breathed her name. “You’re one of the sweetest girls I know. That won’t happen.” A sound breezed into my ear that shook me to my core. “Hey, are you…” My voice trailed off at the thought of Mari sobbing when I couldn’t do anything about it.

“No, no. I’m fine. Just a cough.”

“Do you want me to come over later?” My heart clenched at the thought of Mari crying over what father would think of her. Why would she lie about it though?

“Yeah, just text me when you’re on your way.”

 

**Felix**

 

“So…” Well, this is really awkward. “Wanna hear a joke? Watch a funny movie?” God,I was shit this.

Mari laid face down on her bed and kicked her legs.

“If it makes you feel any better, I found out my parents are boning each other again.” I sighed. I really needed a smoke. Today was complete shit.

Mari lifted herself from the bed with a shriek, “How would you know that?”

“Because I almost walked in on their kitchen escapades this morning.”

Mari’s face turned into a horrified expression, “Mr.Agreste-” Mari covered her gaping mouth with a petite hand.

“Wanna know what’s more horrifying? He actually has a nice bod for a guy his age who does nothing but work and possibly terrorize Paris.”

Mari’s horrified expression shifted into something more thoughtful, “That’s not exactly more horrifying per say.”

“It is when he’s all over my mom."

“But, don’t you want your parents to be together?” Mari scooted towards the edge of her bed as she watched me play Injustice 2 that I got my hands on yesterday.

“After I’m out of the house.”

“So college?” 

“Well, I was thinking about living with my mom for a bit longer.” My chest clenched a little. “I kind of hate living alone even if I pretty much do with her.” It was a stupid fear, a childhood fear of mine that still lingered and would continue to do so into adulthood. “My mom was home most of the time when I was really young, but once I got to third grade…”

Mari jumped down from her bed and walked over to her love seat nearer to me. “You were left alone?”

“With a nanny. She was nice I guess.” But, not my mom. Part of me wondered why my mother left me alone all the time. For work, she’d say as she slipped out the door. The words hallowed me as a child. Being bullied at school, a mother who wasn’t home, and a father who didn’t exist. “You know, I would probably have had a Fairly Odd Parent as a kid." I laughed. "Well maybe not. I didn't have an evil babysitter.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mari answered confusion evident in her voice. “My parents never left me alone, not really.” I watched Mari tap her chin out of the corner of my eye.

“Well, it’s nice that your family lives where you work. But, if I lived in a bakery-” I patted my stomach, “I would be so fat.”

“Can you get fat?”

“I haven’t really tried, but if you bring me more chocolate chip cookies I can certainly change that.” I winked and continued to punch buttons as I fought flash using Batman’s special move.

Mari gave me a sad smile and scooted closer to me. A moment later I felt her chin on the top of my head as she leaned her chest on my back and had her arms around my neck in a casual manner.

My heart thudded and my insides contorted with guilt. “So, you sounded kind of sad when you talked to Adrien earlier.”

Mari said nothing for what felt like a long time. “I don’t know what I want to do.” Her voice quivered unsure into my hair.

Internally I groaned, I never meant for all of this to happen. “I didn’t mean to make your life complicated.” I paused the game with a sigh. “And now Hawk Moth is done playing games with me. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I grabbed Mari’s hand that hung over my shoulder. “I just don’t want you or Adrien getting hurt.” I'd never forgive myself if one of them got hurt. If both of them did.

“Right, that’s what I meant.” Mari backed away from me. She had that annoyed look on her face that girls get when you couldn’t understand what they really wanted to talk about. The face that said ‘hey, why the fuck can’t you understand me you idiot.’ “So, did you talk to Mr. Agreste about staying?” Her face brightened a little at the question.

“Well, that’s probably going to happen since my mom is dating him now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she fully moves by the end of the week.” I let myself slide to the wooden floor with a thud. “I wonder when my life became some twisted piece of fanfiction?”

“I don’t think your life is that messed up.” Marinette laughed. “If anything, it’s just normal teenage Parisian problems.”

“Yeah, being a vigilante is a super normal problem.” Just like being in love with your brother’s almost girlfriend, I internally groaned. “What am I going to do?” I murmured as I picked the playstation controller back up.

“You could let me play? That’s what teammates are for.”

“Yeah. Teammates.” The words rolled off my lips as Mari’s definition of us made my heart sink. Maybe that’s all I really was to her. Maybe she had lied before when she kind of admitted her feelings to me on that rooftop. Part of me knew that if she didn’t like me, my life would be a hell of a lot easier. Why couldn’t I just let her go? Why couldn’t I let her and Abby go and just fall in love with some normal French girl named Bridgette?

I handed Mari the controller and watched her play from my spot on the floor. It would be so much easier not to have feelings for her if she wasn’t so good at video games.

 

 


	31. Felix and Adrien's Catastrophe of a Gala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix and Adrien attend the gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, 
> 
> I finally know how I'm going to end this. But, I do need your help with the title for the next part of the series!
> 
> *Autumn in Paris, But it's no Fairytale.  
> *Brothers Divided  
> *Two Cats and A Ladybug  
> *Any of your suggestions. 
> 
> Please comment and vote below! I need your input! 
> 
> Also enjoy the update because ya'll gonna hate me for the next one. (Laughs evilly into the distance)

**Felix**

 

“I’m not sure I’m up to this Mom,” I muttered before my Mom pulled my tie too tight like always.

My mom moved her fingers nimbly in a quick, practiced motion. “Oh, you’ll be fine. After all, you’re a celebrity now.”

“I guess.” I watched my mom fix her brown waves with her left hand as her golden bracelets bounced. “I just hate dressing up.” My Agreste suit was too fancy for my taste. My dress shoes pinched my front toes on my right foot, my arms felt constricted, and I couldn’t move my legs properly. I really just wanted to hide in my room in a pair of comfy basketball shorts and watch Black Lagoon again.

“Felix, you’re so grown up now.” My mom’s lip quivered. “It makes me feel old.” She wrapped her slim arms around me. “Just stop aging right now.”

“At least let me get to 21.” I joked. Her floral perfume tickled my nose while the shoulder of her deep green dress rubbed against my cheek. It felt like satin.

“So, we should probably talk after tonight about things.” My mom announced after a moment of silence.

“Yeah.” I already knew where this was going. My mom wanted to stay in Paris and she wanted me to stay too.

“You know I love you.”

“Yeah, I know. I love you too.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Adrien, you look very nice.” Father stood behind me as I finished putting on the suit Marinette made for me. “Personally, it’s a little too fairytale like for my taste, but it’s nice. I’ll make sure to give Marinette my best regards for her elegant work.”

“Thank you Father.”

“Felix, you look very well put together.”

“Well pinch my cheek and call grandma, you really think so?”

Father closed his eyes and sighed, “Yes. Please control yourself this evening.”

Felix moved closer to me, “I’ll try my best.” His suit did make him look older.

“You look like James Bond, or that guy from Durarara.”

Felix gave his suit a pop, “Badass Shizuo Heiwajima, right?” His light blond hair was partly slicked back, and I couldn’t even see the bruise around his eye anymore. “Too bad I don’t have a cigarette to complete the look.”

“How’s the eye feel?”

“Felt better, but at least mom covered it up pretty good.”

“She didn’t even ask how you got it?” Felix’s mom was really nice and really hot. I could definitely see why father would sleep with her. It was just weird to see Felix and Iris together since they looked nothing alike besides them having the same nose. She had a deep bronze glow, dark wavy hair with caramel highlights, glowing green eyes, and a very feminine figure. Felix was really pale in comparison with his fair complex, his whitish blond hair, and sharp grey eyes.  Of course, I fell somewhere in between Felix and his mom with father clearly the palest of us all.

“Naw, she knows I get into fights.” Felix shrugged. “It’s happened ever since I started school. She doesn’t bother to ask anymore unless it’s something really bad like when Abigail stabbed me a couple of times.”

“Ah right. That night.” I faced Felix. “So father liked the suit.”

Felix blinked, “Oh. Well of course. Marinette made it.” His tone had a slight clip at the end. “But, you kind of look like some prince douche out of a Disney movie.”

“You know Felix…”

“I’m just being honest. I’m sure you’ll look like less of a douche when you match Marinette.”

“I already match her,” I muttered. “She’s just not here yet. What does Abigail’s dress look like?”

Felix groaned, “I don’t know Adrien. Silver?”

I glared at him, “Really?”

“What? I compliment her when I see her. Besides, I’m still pissed about the black eye. That’s what I get for being a gentleman the other night. Should have just slept with her.”

I elbowed Felix in the ribs, “Come on.”

“It’s true! She punched me because you’re a terrible influence on me.”

“Or she’s, you know, evil.”

“She’s not inherently evil. Hawk Moth is just tricking her into being his lackey.”

“Lackey?”

“Yeah, lackey, like henchman.”

“Or his girlfriend.”

Felix’s face twisted, “Don’t even go there.”

“Hey, some girls like older guys. We aren’t even sure how old Hawk Moth really is.”

“I’m pretty sure if they were dating she wouldn’t be so desperate to sleep with me.”

“Or maybe that’s the reason she is.”

Felix punched my shoulder, “Drop it.” His face was deadly serious.

“Okay, I will.” For now. “I just think you should be more careful around her.”

“Adrien, DROP IT.” Felix’s voice dripped icy authority.

“Okay, just be careful tonight. I only have one brother after all. I’d be upset if I lost you.”

 

**Felix**

 

I said I was sorry. What more do you want? Abigail texted me as I sat by her in silence. The limo was too crowded, and Abigail’s silvery dress that was embellished in sequences and beads scratched my hand. I put my phone away followed by a hand squeeze. Yeah, I was still pissed at her and I knew I couldn’t fully trust her. But, I felt this strange connection to her that I just couldn’t explain. Also, she was really hot. 

Gabriel and my mom chatted with all of us, but it seemed like Abigail only wanted my attention. “Before we arrive, I want it to be made clear that cell phones are prohibited.” Gabriel turned to Abigail and I. “And everyone is to be on their best behavior.” He added while staring at me.

“Ghee, you should have just addressed me in private dad.” I grinned. “I promise no cell phones and best behavior. Scouts honor.”

“Honey, you weren’t even in boy scouts.” Mom’s green eyes flashed. “You punched the scout leader’s son, remember?” My mom sported a sly grin.

“Vaguely.” I returned her grin.

As the limo slowed, Abigail leaned closer. “Just listen to me, and everything will be okay.” Her pink lips moved against my earlobe.

I spun my head towards her. “In which sense?” I hissed. “The plan you obviously have with Hawk Moth for tonight or dealing with other guests.”

Abigail’s green eyes averted my gaze as the limo stopped in front of a huge cream-colored building that was the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel. It’s elegant architecture and the too fancy people that piled inside already made my skin crawl. I squeezed Abigail’s perfectly manicured hand and telepathically willed her to understand that I didn’t belong here. I just wanted to be in Marinette’s room playing video games, or at McDonald’s with Abigail teasing me. That would be a perfect evening to me, well as long as I could hang out with Nino and Adrien after.

Abigail squeezed my hand back, “You were born for this.” She whispered after she watched Adrien and Marinette file out of the limo.

Adrien and Marinette looked like something out of that off-brand Disney Swan Princess Movie as they walked into the hotel surrounded by paparazzi. Mari was a white and gold goddess with raven hair and bluebell eyes that contrasted Adrien perfectly.

I stepped from the shiny black limo with Abigail’s slim hand as life support. The cameras blinded me, but Abigail led me forward with a perfect white smile. I followed her lead, but my fake smile strained my cheeks and lacked her glow. After we were almost to the door, Gabriel and my mom emerged from the limo. Shouts in French filled the air as my mom’s voice floated around and Gabriel’s clipped tone followed.

“What are they saying?”

“They’re asking if they’re together. Your mom gave them a bullshit answer, and Gabriel told them off.”

“Okay, but they are together.” I furrowed my brow.

Abigail smacked my arm lightly, “Don’t do that to your face, and maybe they want privacy.”

“They’re public figures. You don’t get privacy.”

And suddenly there was a roar in the crowd and I turned my head to see a sharp black Rolls Royce pulled up. The fancy driver opened the door for a well-dressed man that emerged from the expensive vehicle. Nothing seemed very unique about the man except for the crowd’s reaction to him. Gabriel’s reaction was pretty unique. I’d never seen him look so sour. 

Gabriel’s salty expression turned darker as he gripped my mother’s arm and his mouth something. My mother turned around to look at the man.

“Come on.” Abigail dragged me inside where an elegant staff member pointed us in the appropriate direction. 

“Who was that?”

“Nobody.” Abigail’s red waves brushed my cheek as she yanked me away from the entrance hurriedly.

“Slow down!” I hissed and looked at a stunned man’s face. “Everyone is going to think we’re running off to have sex or something.”

Abigail snorted. “That would be a first for you.”

I frowned, “You know…”

Abigail raised a slim finger to my lips, “Let’s just find Marinette and Adrien. We can argue and do everything else after.” Her fake lashes made her green eyes look huge emeralds.

“I feel like you’re hiding something.” My instincts told me that something was very wrong.

“The only thing I am hiding is this uncomfortable black lingerie that you will get to see if you do everything I ask tonight.” She jerked me by my tie so my face was near hers. “Do you understand?”

My heart thudded, and I felt myself flush. “Yes Ma’am.”

Abigail smiled then let go of my tie. “Good.” She looped her left arm through mine. “Let’s find your brother.”

We entered the large ballroom with an elegant red carpet with a fancy design in it, a gold chandelier, and too fancy decor for my taste. “I feel like we’re back in some Titanic remake.” I grimaced at Abigail.

“We’re on land.”

“Hence why I used like in that sentence.” I rolled my eyes and plucked a champagne glass from a waiter’s tray. I gulped the golden liquid. “I feel really out of place here.” I needed more alcohol.

“That’s why you have me at your side.” Abigail slowed and pressed herself to my side. “I’ll handle everything.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m not drunk enough for this.”

**Adrien**

 

“See, it’s not that scary,” I whispered in Mari’s cute ear. Her gold earring brushed against my lower lip.

“Adrien.” Mari blushed a bright pink and gave me a playful shove. “Let’s find your family.”

“Oh, they can live without me. I just want to enjoy my time with you tonight.” I wished the music would start already so I could sway with Mari around the room like the princess she was.

“I’m not a princess, if anyone is royalty it’s you.” Marinette laughed like tinkering bells that chimed just for me.

“Marinette, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for awhile now.”

“Adrien…” Marinette’s voice trailed off as she averted her gaze from mine. “Felix!” She waved. I turned myself so I stood by Marinette’s side as I watched Felix drag Abigail over.

Abigail looked...well like a supermodel in a silver dress that reminded me of the vogue version of The Little Mermaid’s silver dress she wore at the end of the movie without all sequence and with a much lower bust line that for some weird reason Felix didn’t seem occupied with. In fact, he seemed too interested in Marinette.

I narrowed my eyes, “Felix.” I gritted my teeth.

Felix laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, “I just can’t get over your dress Mari! It’s so...exquisite.”

“I’ll have to agree.” Alicio appeared out of nowhere with a wide grin on his face. “Your dress is beautiful. Little too princessy for my taste. Abigail’s is much more-” Alicio lifted her hand to his lips. “My speed.”

“Alicio! You can’t just leave me.” Chloe stomped towards us in a shimmery blue dress that hugged her waist and flared at the bottom. It was more tamed than the one she wore last year.

“I didn’t, I’m merely mingling. It is a party after all.” Alicio smiled brightly at Chloe.

“I guess your right.” Chloe swayed her hips. “Adrikins, Felixikins, you both look handsome.” Chloe grabbed both of us away from our dates. “I need a dance from both of you tonight. But, neither of you need to fight over me though. There’s enough to go around.”

Abigail snorted, “You can say that again.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean!” Chloe stalked towards Abigail.

Abigail swished a red wave from her shoulder, “Exactly what you said.” She enunciated each word slowly.

“Okay, why don’t go to our tables. Adrien, I think Mr. Agreste is looking for you.” Marinette walked between them and grabbed my hand.

Felix followed her lead, “Come on Abigail.”

“Good save back there Mari.” I said with a wide grin once we were far enough away from Chloe. “You’d make an excellent Ladybug.”

Marinette’s shoulders cinched. “Ahh wh-what makes you say that?”

“You’re always saving the day.” I grinned, “And stealing my heart.”

Mari dropped my hand and stopped. She froze in the middle of the bustling floor. Her blue eyes were wide and then she shook her head. “Sorry, I just had a messed up thought.” Mari twisted her fingers through mine again. “I must just be hungry.”

**Felix**

 

“Should I expect the food to be poisoned?” I hissed into Abigail’s ear. I had to be on my guard even though I planned to have at least five drinks. Probably more. The thought of what Abigail was wearing under her dress burned my mind. I desperately did want to see, but that would just complicate things more.

“No.” Abigail glared back at me.

“Ghee, sorry if I don’t exactly trust you right now.” I wrenched her forward towards the table.

“No need to be a dick about it.”

“Oh, are you gonna punch me again?”

“I’m tempted too.” She clenched her hand around mine. “But, I wouldn’t want to ruin your makeup when you cry like a bitch again.”

My mouth dropped open, “I did not cry!” I snapped.

“Ow, ow, ow Abigail why would you punch me.” Abigail mocked me in a deep voice.

My face burned, “I never even said that! I called you crazy.”

“And I called you an idiot. Seriously what do I have to do to get you to have sex with me! We’re practically dating and you won’t do anything.”

I closed my eyes and dropped her hand, “Um...what?” Not this again, I wanted to groan. “Look, I’m not dating you if you’re putting my whole family in danger. In fact-” I started to drag Abigail away from the table back into the hallway in a furry of anger. I lowered my voice and spoke with malice, “It’s Hawk Moth or me, babe.” I spat babe out like a poison. “He’s not helping you, he’s lying to you.”

Abigail stared at me in an empty sort of way. “He’s not. He’s not lying to me.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yes he is. Look we will have a full-blown argument over this during or after this event.”

Abigail stood there with a distant look on her face. “I don’t think there’s much more to say.” She turned from me with her arms crossed.

“What has he ever done for you besides getting you into a steaming pile of illegal shit?” I spun her around to face me.

“You stupid, idiotic, jerk!” Abigail poked my chest with her index finger. “He saved me. I had nowhere to go and my uncle didn’t even want to take care of me. He saw me as a burden.” Her green eyes started to shimmer with tears. 

“Fuck, Abby. Look, I’m angry and I’m an idiot. We can both agree on that. Just enjoy the next hour or so and we’ll argue about this later and if you want to punch me… I’ll let you.” I grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards me.

Her sharp green eyes narrowed, “Fine. But, don’t cry to me when it’s all over and I end up breaking your nose.” Her full lips pulled into a pout.

“Felix Finch, how nice to see you again.” Alicio’s hands slipped over my ass.

I jumped, “Dude, don’t do that!”

“Do I sense a lover’s quarrel? Is it over me?” Alicio raised an eyebrow and pulled a strand of maroon hair behind his pierced ear. He wrapped his left arm around my shoulder with his face pressing uncomfortably close to mine.

“You wish.” Abigail snapped. “And I don’t like it when people touch my things.” Abigail pulled Alicio’s arm off my shoulder.

“Oh, well you’re certainly not going to like what I have to tell you.” Alicio’s declared with an evil twinkle in his golden brown eyes.

My mind raced through all the things Alicio and I talked about. I tried to figure out what he was going to bring up to her, which would probably end with me having a broken rib. I glanced at Abigail who wore a heavy frown.

“You ruin my night, and I’ll make sure your band name isn’t just a metaphor.”

Alicio’s eyes widened, “Fair enough.” He removed his arm from my shoulder. “But, it’ll get out eventually.” His golden eyes glittered merrily. “And I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Felix sure has been spending a lot of time with Abigail.” Marinette pushed the food around her plate.

Jealousy burned, “I guess. They are dating after all.”

Mari’s fork paused for a moment, “I thought he didn’t like her.”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure if he does. He thinks she’s super hot. That’s enough for him.” I reached for Mari’s hand, “I, on the other hand, am lucky to have you.”

Mari’s face turned a bright red.

“As a date! I mean have you as a date.” I laughed awkwardly. God, maybe I did need Felix to help me.

“Bonjour Gabriel.” A deep voice greeted coldly.

I turned my face up to see a tall man with gray hair and green eyes standing looming above me. He wore a black and white suit, had his hair slicked back similar to Gabriel’s only shorter, and he walked with a cane. The eeriest feeling gripped my stomach as he turned his empty green eyes to me.

“Laurent Beauchene, what a surprise. I wasn’t sure if you were still with us after all this time.” My father’s voice carried the same frigidness as the Laurent guy.

A smirk played upon Laurent’s lips, “But, of course. I’ve just been busy enjoying my retirement. Iris, you look as beautiful as ever mon chère.” His eyes glided over Felix’s mom, and I was suddenly kind of happy Felix wasn’t at the table.

“Monsieur Beauchene, it is nice to see you again as well.” Iris spoke in cordial French.

 “How is your son?” He asked with great interest.

“Oh, he’s a handful.” Iris laughed. “I’m so glad he’s decided to stay with Gabriel this summer. Gabriel is just a wonderful father. Felix has certainly grown under his supervision.” Iris patted father’s chest.

I cringed at her words. Gabriel was never what I’d call a good father figure. Suddenly I felt eyes bore on the top of my head.

“And this must be Adrien.” Laurent’s hand ruffled my hair. “You look like your mother. You have her hair…her eyes.”

“I’d advise you to keep your hands off my son,” Father said in a predatory growl. 

The hand from my hair retracted, “But of course. How forward of me. I’ll be seeing you soon Gabriel.” The man turned and walked away.

“Father-“

“Not now Adrien.” Gabriel clenched Iris’s hand. “And where is your brother?”

**Felix**

 

“Fuck Abby, come on.” I moaned between kisses as she ground against me. “Don’t do that when we have to sit at the table with my mom.” I couldn’t deny it felt really good, and I was more than half tempted to give in.

“You always say that!” She bounced with a pout. “Abigail, not right now. Abagail, we should wait.”

“We’ve known each other for like a month!” I exclaimed being the only one rational about this. “I told you I wanted this to be different.”

Abigail rolled her eyes and hit my chest, “I know!” She bit her swollen bottom lip, “I just get the feeling like you’re hiding something from me.”

“Yeah, like you aren’t right now?”

“I thought we were going to wait to have this argument.”

“I wanted to, but I swear Abigail if my family gets hurt-“ I cupped her face between my hands, “We’re over. For good. I will not forgive you.”

Abigail stayed silent between my palms for what felt like hours before she broke away when her cell phone beeped. “Let’s go dance.” She slid off my lap and offered me her hand. “I’m sure your parents are suspicious enough as it is.”

“Probably.” I grabbed her hand and let her pull me to my feet. “Just keep me away from Alicio.”

Abigail laughed, “He really has it out for you.”

“I know! He does not take no for an answer.” We climbed down the stairs slowly. I fixed Abigail’s waves and wiped some mascara that ran under her eyes before entering the hallway that connected to the ballroom. “No one will ever know." I gripped her hand tighter than before. Maybe Abigail was right about being my girlfriend. I definitely felt something for her that ran deeper than her looks.

“Maybe I want them to know.” She fluttered her lashes.

I opened my mouth then closed it. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

She laughed and wrapped her fingers through mine. “Come on you dork.”

The floor was busy with most of the guests dancing as a live band played in the corner. Elegant dresses and classy men swayed to the rhythm that was too tame. The chandelier glittered overhead as Abigail glided us onto the floor.

“Just like this.” She raised our connected hands followed by placing her free on my shoulder. “Lead the way.”

I couldn’t deny the butterflies in my stomach as I gazed at her. I mean really looked at her. “You know, I get the weirdest feeling when I look at you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She blinked.

I shrugged, “I kind of get the feeling like…” I took in every detail of her red hair and pale skin. She had three freckles on her right shoulder. “Never mind.” I shook my head. “I have no idea where I was going with that.”

Her face remained neutral for another dance. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She broke away.

“Okay, I’ll wait over at the table we never made it too.”

“No!” Abigail looked at the floor, “Wait for me on the roof.”

“Why?” I watched her face twist. “Why.” I demanded in an angry tone.

She ignored me and left the ballroom. I searched for Marinette or Adrien in the crowd of people huddled together.

“Looking for moi.” Chloe wrapped an arm around mine. “I must say I’m sad you didn’t ask me to dance first Felikins.”

I bit back a gag as I controlled the urge to shove Chloe away. “Look, Chloe, I promise I will dance with you after-”

“People of Paris!” A voice boomed.  A rush of black butterflies filled the ballroom. “I have stayed in the shadows for far too long.” A tall Hawk Moth emerged at the entrance of the ballroom. I glanced around for Gabriel and didn’t see him. That settled it.”Gabriel has got to be Hawk Moth.” I slid through the throng of people as Gabriel’s voice boomed.

“I mean you no harm. All I ask is for Chat Noir and Lady Bug’s miraculous in exchange for everyone’s safety.”

I ran through the emergency exit that led into a back alley. I couldn’t just change in the middle of an alley. I turned to my right to see a large dumpster. “Fucking hell.” I opened the lid and gagged. “God that stinks.” I patted my earpiece, “Macee, you there?”

“I’m here. Loud and clear. Your bag is under the bin just like we planned.” His voice rang in my ear.

“How did you even manage that?” I got on my knees and pulled the paper sack out from under the bin. I took a deep breath and jumped into the dumpster. “God, this stinks.”

“I biked there earlier. So, why did you ask me to turn off my earpiece awhile ago?”

I coughed, “Oh, I had stuff I had to do.”

“Riiighht. You mean make out with Abigail.” Macee made a bunch of kissy noises in my ear.

“Yep, that’s it. You got me.” I couldn’t ruin my hero image for Macee just yet. “God, it’s hard to put this thing on in the dark.”

“Well, maybe you should have just coordinated with Lady Bug and Chat for a better plan.”

“And ruin their date tonight? I couldn’t do that.”

“So you’re going to take on Hawk Moth by yourself? That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“Terrible, but it’s the only idea I got.” I finished pulling on my suit. “Is my suit less baggy?” I shifted the shoulders.

“Yeah, I made a few alterations.”

“A few?” I climbed out of the dumpster and pushed the exit door. “Damnit!” I pulled out my grappling hook from my new belt and zipped to the roof.

“You have smoke bombs now.”

I sprinted to the roof door. “Damnit!”

“Left side, second pocket.” Macee sighed in my ear.

I pulled out a small lock pick. “God you are the best sidekick.” I picked the door with relative ease since I used to do it a lot back in the states.

“Better than Robin?”

“So much better.” I sprinted down the stairs. All six flights and finally burst through the stairwell door. I turned left and passed the spot Abigail and I were in earlier. I slid across the marble floor that would lead into the red-carpeted ballroom. I turned a sharp corner almost bursting into it when I saw the horde of people running to the front entrance. “Macee, what’s...going on?” I breathed heavily.

“I can’t get into the security cameras!”

The ballroom doors were flooded with guests running out, so I couldn’t even get near it. “Chat! Ladybug!” I shouted. I heard no response. I tried to shove myself into the crowd when I felt a sharp tug on my right arm. Something blue covered my eyes and I was lifted off the ground. “Peacock, don’t!” I yelled as I was shoved into somewhere dark.

“It’s for your own good.”

**Adrien**

 

“Come on Hawk Moth, why don’t you give up already?” I whirled my baton around and smacked the akuma possessed violinist out of the way.

“Oh, I won’t give up just yet.” Hawk Moth tapped his cane and suddenly Ladybug was brought out in Abigail’s arms. Her head hung lifelessly and her right side was bleeding.

“Ladybug!” I screamed and felt Hawk Moth smack the side of my face with his cane.

“Follow my orders and everything will be okay.”

Something pierced my skin. “If you hurt her, I”ll kill you! I’ll claw your eyes out! I’ll-”

Ladybug’s suit faded away in Abigail’s arms. My world slowed to a crawl as I saw…”Marinette.”

“That’s right, and you never even knew.” Hawk Moth grabbed a fist full of my hair painfully hard. “She’s the one that’s been making out with your brother. Doesn’t that make angry?”

My eyes blinked back tears as Mari’s white and gold dress turned red. “You monster!” I raised my fist in an attempt to punch him.

Hawk Moth shook me like a rag doll, “Didn’t your father teach you any manners Adrien?” He yanked my hair upwards. “Of course not. He’s never been capable of doing anything. He couldn’t even keep his wife alive.”

“Don’t-don’t talk about my father like that!” I swung my arm again. I missed and awkwardly slumped against his hold. I could feel my heart slow.

“I can talk about him however I want to my dear Adrien. After all, we’re family.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, like I said above I need your input!
> 
> Also I didn't get to edit this as much as I wanted, so if you see mistakes I apologize. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	32. The End...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sound of electronic devices smashing against the wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, 
> 
> I never expected for my work to receive as many hits, kudos, and comments in my wildest dreams. I am so happy that my first work received so much love. Huge thank you to my readers and an even bigger thank you to those who commented on this work. I loved interacting with everyone and I was shocked by how much love Felix got in the comments. I'm glad my rendition of him made you guys laugh. 
> 
> But, this ending is dedicated to these amazing readers who have supported my work since the beginning and have commented on almost every single chapters if not every single one. Their insights and support inspired me to write and expand into other stories. This chapter is dedicated to MaidenAlice, Bowser14456, and mayuralover. Thank you for the amazing support <3

 

**Felix**

 

“Abigail! What the fuck!” I banged on the door. “Fucking idiot. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her.” I took a step back. “God, this is gonna hurt.” I shoved my shoulder against the door as hard as I could. Pain flooded through me. “Okay, bad, bad idea.” My suit before could have withstood the heavy hits because of the padding, but now I couldn’t do anything with the alterations Macee made. Yeah, I could move easier, but I was more vulnerable. I reached for my right ear to tap my earpiece only to find it gone. “Great.”  Couldn't bust down the door and I lost my only way to communicate with the outside world.

“Felix?” A voice called.

“Uh…” Shit, I couldn’t let whoever that was find me in costume! "And the hits just keep coming," I sighed.

I heard soft footsteps and then a hand squeezed my ass. “It is you!”

“Jesus, Alicio! What did you do memorize my ass?” I jumped away at the second squeeze. “Would you cut that out?”

“Well, personally I’d rather memorize something else…” I felt his hot breath on my neck.

“Knock it off. Not in the mood.” I elbowed his scrawny side. “Where are we anyway?” I needed to find a way out of this dark room.

“The bathroom and your suit feels weird.”

“Great and it's because I’m not in it right now,” I muttered. I started feeling against the wall for a way out. “Would you help me look for a window?”

“I suppose.” Alicio sighed. “I could think of a dozen better things to do in the dark especially when I am desperate to know what you’re in right now.”

“I’m sure you could.” My hand hitched on something. “Do you have your phone on you?” I asked before I realized what a mistake I’d made. “Wait-” I said a second too late.

A blinding light glared from his phone, which dropped to the floor a moment later. “You-”

“It’s not what it looks like!”

“You sexy son of a bitch.” Alicio pressed his hands on my chest. “I had no idea you were into role play.” 

It was never easy with this guy. “Yep, I have the biggest furry fetish. In fact, I have weekly orgy meetups for it.” I said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster.

“Is it weird I’m oddly turned on by that confession?”

“I was kidding.” I turned away from Alicio as I grabbed the tightly closed side window that sat near the end stall. It reminded me of the school bathroom I would occasionally break out of when I wanted to skip back in the States. I could almost feel Alicio’s eyes bore into my ass as I lifted my left leg out the small window.

“Your ass looks divine right now.” Alicio practically moaned.

“Please, for the love of glob, stop staring at my ass.”

“I can’t help it. You’re the one keeping it at eye level right now. And what’s glob?” I noticed that Alicio had moved directly under the window. I could barely make out the outline of his suit though because of how dark it was.

“I don’t have time to explain Adventure Time sayings, but I’ll swing around and move what’s ever in front of the door.” I dropped into some fancy yellow flowers and ran to the front of the building where it was crawling with cops.

“Chat’s sidekick. What are you doing here?” A redhaired officer stopped me.

“There’s someone in the downstairs bathroom that needs help. I have to find Chat Noir and Ladybug.”

“We’ll get him out. You just save our heroes from Hawk Moth.” The officer blew his whistle. “Civilian in downstairs bathroom. Let’s get them out!” He waved his chubby arm to signal other officers to follow him.

“Wait! What do you mean save them?” I yelled louder than I wanted to.

“Didn’t you know? Hawk Moth and the Blue Peacock were seen carrying two figures west along the rooftops.”

I turned from the officer and sprinted west. “Hang on guys, I’m coming!”

 

**Adrien**

 

 I felt someone shake me. “Adrien, wake up.” A harsh voice ordered.

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked as the world came into view. I couldn’t remember what happened until I saw Marinette slumped against the floor. Only there wasn’t any floor, there was only a dingy brown metal beam. “Marinette!” I croaked. My throat felt raw and my head ached.

“You know I went through a lot of trouble to get these two pieces.” Hawk Moth nudged me with his boot. “And right now, I just want to savor it.” He lifted me up off the beam by my hair. “You have your mother’s hair. Your mother’s eyes. It’s so uncanny.”

“Don’t talk about her!” I tried to break his grasp by shaking my head.

“I can talk about her all I want.” Hawk Moth shook me like a ragdoll before he dropped me. “You may be feeling weak, dizzy for a while. I hope your brother gets here by the time you’re feeling active.” He walked over near Marinette. “Otherwise, I don’t think your girlfriend will make it.”

  
**Felix**

 

“Felix!” I heard my mother’s holler pierce night air. “Get down from there!”

I froze. “I have no idea who this Felix person is ma’am.” I placed my hands on either side of my hips. “I’m one of the protectors of Paris.” I mustered the best heroic pose I could on the spot.

“Stop making an ass of yourself and get down from that roof!” My mother stomped her foot. “Gabriel, make him get down.”

Fuucckkkk, “Ma’am you’re mistaken.” I slowly backed away from the roof’s edge only to trip and fall over my own two feet. I grabbed the gutter with both hands as my legs dangled in the air. I just needed to come back to the manor for a vehicle and another earpiece so I could search for Marinette and Adrien faster. How should I have known that they would be waiting in Adrien’s room?

“Felix Frederick Finch is that you in that ridiculous costume!”

“No...and it’s ridiculously awesome.” I scooted along the edge in a desperate attempt to get away, which obviously wasn’t working.

“I will give you to the count of trois to get down young man.” Gabriel held up three fingers.

“Sir, who I have never met before, I have no idea what you’re talking about and I think your almost 18-year-old son would not be intimidated by the infamous count of three trick,” I clenched the roof harder as I tried to form a plan.

“Un.”

“It’s not going to work.”

“Duex.” Gabriel’s face twisted with anger that put the time he glared at my amazing sun’s out guns out tank to shame. I almost felt like I should burst into flames under his gaze. “Don’t make me do it.”

I huffed, “Do your worst.”

“Trois!” Gabriel stormed out onto the balcony leaned forward grabbing my leg. He tugged with enough force that I fell onto the balcony with a heavy thud.

“Why would you do that?” I rubbed my butt cheeks with both hands. “I have to go save Paris. Now I have to deal with a bruised butt too.” 

“You’ll be doing nothing young man!” Gabriel slapped the back of my head. “I cannot believe you! Pretending to be a vigilante.”

“I’m not pretending! I make a difference. I’m gonna go save Chat Noir and Ladybug right now. Sidekicks save the day plenty of times.” I rubbed my stinging neck. I looked around Adrien’s room and realized that neither parent seemed concerned that Adrien was missing. “Where’s Adrien?”

“He texted me saying he was spending some time with Marinette after the Gala was ruined.”

So Gabriel wasn’t Hawk Moth, I internally groaned. There went my best lead. Now I owed Mari ten euros. “Alright, but I need to go save Paris. I have my super suit on, the night is young, and Paris is in trouble.” I gestured over the balcony. “So, you can ground me when I get back.”

“That is utterly preposterous!” Gabriel seethed. “You’re not going anywhere!”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, “Sorry Pops, but I gotta do it.” I backflipped over him. I sprinted towards Adrien’s desk where I left my extra earpiece and then down the white hallway.

“FELIX FREDERICK FINCH!” Gabriel’s roar filled the entire manor.

I bound down the marble staircase and skidded to a stop in front of Natalie’s empty desk. I pressed the gate button under her computer and threw open her desk drawers. “They’ve got to be in here.” I rummaged through her desk till I found them. “Bingo.” I grabbed the pair of keys with the Lamborghini emblem.

“I don’t know whatever you’re planning, but you’re not doing it!” Gabriel stood at the top of the stairwell.

“But, I have too.” I jumped over Natalie’s desk to sprint towards the door adjacent to Gabriel’s main office that led to the rising garage. I practically fell down all the steps and crashed into the first car since someone left the bottom door open. I didn’t have time to catch my breath as I pressed the remote start. “Oh, baby.” I unlocked the red Lamborghini door and crouched in. “Shit, I didn’t raise the garage.” I thrashed my head around in the car before I realized it was probably along the wall. I hopped out and scanned along the dark garage wall. “It must be here…there!” I bolted across the garage and pressed the rectangular button. My legs shook as I felt the floor under me shift upwards.

“Felix!”

I dove back into the car and shifted it into gear. “Come on, come on, rise faster.” Finally, it was done and I backed up so fast the tires squealed. “This. Is. Amazing.”

“Felix, what’s going on? I’ve been trying to contact you for the past hour!” Macee practically screamed in my ear.

“Dude, inside voice.” I winced while I drove out the front gate.

“Sorry, but what’s going on? I saw something on the news about Hawk Moth being on top of the Eiffel Tower.”

I sped down the road away from the manor. “I don’t know where that is right now.” I checked the unfamiliar streets. “In fact, I don’t really know where I am right now.”

“Hang on. Let me track your location...turn right!”

I jerked the vehicle to the right. “This car is amazing. I now know that if any vehicle was made by God, it was this one.”

“Okay, that’s great. But, you really need to get to the Eiffel Tower. Like right now.”

“Why?” I asked even though I really didn’t want to know the answer. 

“It looks like Hawk Moth is going to throw Ladybug off the top.”

 

**Adrien**

 

 “No, please don’t do it. I’ll do anything.” I begged. I felt helpless as I watched him lean Marinette’s bleeding, unconscious body over the edge of the tower. “Just don’t hurt her.”

Hawk Moth pressed his lips into a thin line. “I might take you up on that offer if your brother doesn’t arrive soon.” He left Mari partly dangling over the edge as he walked to the other end of the tiny square we were placed in. The bottom of Marinette’s gown ruffled in the breeze. I watched in horror as her body slowly inched forward.

“You said we were family right?” I said in a hysterical tone. “I don’t know what my father did to you, but I’ll fix it. You have our miraculouses. Just let Marinette go. She needs a hospital.” Tears stung my eyes. “Abigail, please help us!”

Abigail stood like a statue as she watched Marinette’s seemingly lifeless form against the beam. Did she feel guilty, I wondered. She was the one who caused this.

“We are family, but your words cannot bring back what your father caused me to lose.” Hawk Moth’s cane tapped against the metal when he leisurely made his way back towards me.

“Then kill me instead. Is that what you want?” I lowered my head and tugged at the ropes that bound my hands together. “Just kill me instead of her. If you want to hurt my father then kill me!”

“I’m not going to kill you, Adrien.” Hawk Moth stood in front of me. I felt him place his heavy hand on my head. “Why would I kill the only son my daughter ever had?”

My heart stopped. “Wh-what?”

Hawk Moth bent down so his gaze could meet mine. “That’s right. It’s nice to finally meet you in person Adrien.” He tilted his head with a cruel grin. “Aren’t you going to say hello to grand-père?”

 

**Felix**

 

 “You have another one tailing you! Turn left.”

“How was I supposed to know my driving would attract three officers while there’s a way bigger crisis going on?” I wrenched the steering wheel left.

“Maybe if you didn’t go over the speed limit by 30 kilometers per hour and drive on the sidewalk then this wouldn’t be happening right now!”

“Oh ghee, because you can obviously do better!” I increased my speed and weaved through traffic. “You can’t even reach the steering wheel or the pedals!”

“I wouldn’t have to because I could invent something to do that for me!”

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t be as smart as you!” I spun to a stop as a police barrier came into view. “This is as close as I’m gonna get.”

“You’ll just have to grapple up there, but you won’t have the element of surprise. You could hide under the elevator.”

I stepped out of the Lamborghini and contemplated my next move. “Yeah, but I don’t see how I could get close enough without being spotted.” I observed the line of police officers.

“And who’s fault is that? You’re the one that picked a white and black suit.”

“Okay, I got it. I make terrible choices. You’re awfully naggy for a ten-year-old.” I jogged over to the policemen in swat gear. “Excusez-moi, parle Anglais?” I asked sheepishly.

“Yes, I speak English.” An officer responded in a gruff tone.

“I need a favor in order to stop Hawk Moth.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“You’re lying.” I rocked as I tried to free my hands. “Father told me both of my grandparents died.”

Hawk Moth snorted, “Of course he did. He did everything in his power to keep you away from me just like he did with my own daughter.” Hawk Moth stood up. “Do you see him?”

Abigail shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Maybe you should go down and start some trouble then.”

Abigail hunched over the edge near the center of the square. “I don’t understand, we have the miraculouses. Why do we need to do this?” She glanced up at Hawk Moth with desperation on her face.

“Are you questioning me?” His icy voice commanded.

“No, of course not.” Abigail leapt from the nearly open center and weaved her way through the beams. I watched her flip and flutter her fan part of the whole way down. 

“She’s right. You don’t have to do this.” I plead. “You want my mom back right? Then just do the ritual then. Let me take Marinette to the hospital.”

Hawk Moth ignored me as a bright light shone on the tower. “What is this?” He hissed.

“Uh, Hawk Moth. I’m going to say this in English because I’m not entirely sure if you speak French. English is the safest way to go since it is the most spoken language in the world.” I recognized that voice. It was Sabrina’s dad. “What you’re doing is illegal and in violation of twenty different laws that I will now read to you.” He babbled through a megaphone.

I didn’t understand until I heard a quiet clang behind me. My heart surged with joy; Felix was coming to the rescue.

“According to article one subsection 34, “Kidnapping violates-”

“I know what I’m doing is illegal. Would I be a supervillain if it was legal!” Hawk Moth shouted.

“Well, I suppose not. But, kidnapping violates subsection 34 of article one that continues into article two-”

“Just shut up! Hand over the final hero and no one gets hurt.”

“Sir, I don’t think you understand the full extent of the laws you are breaking, which is why I am reading them to you.”

I heard another clang and a soft whisper, “Adrien. It’s me.”

I tapped a fingernail against the beam in Morse code.

“I don’t understand what that means,” Felix whispered almost too loudly.

“Merde.” I closed my eyes. “Just get up here already.”

I heard soft thuds against metal that became louder as Felix closed in. Suddenly the thuds stopped as I felt something press against my back.

“Hold on, let me just-” Felix’s voice was cut off by a sharp blue feather flew through the night air. Felix pressed me against a beam in front of us. As my face was pressed down, I saw Abigail run up the beams.

“Crap, Felix-”

“I know!” Felix clawed at the ropes. “These are really tough.” My head bounced with Felix’s movements against the ropes. “I don’t even think I have a tool for this.” 

“Ah, Felix. How nice of you to join us.” Hawk Moth swiveled to face us in very cliché supervillain fashion. 

“Felix, forget about me. Just save Mari.” I said as I watched blood drip from her slashed side. “She needs more help than I do.” 

“Yes, forget about your own brother. From what I’ve researched, you’ve only been good with women anyway. Maybe you have some underlying father issues that cause you to distance yourself from other males.”

Felix kept grinding the ropes as he spoke, “Wow, that’s not creepy at all. I’m flattered you're so into me, but I already have one male stalker and he doesn’t do well with sharing either.”

I felt the ropes loosen against my wrists. “Felix, just get her to a hospital.” I shut my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

“You know, I’d love to know where you got these ropes Hawk Moth. Kidnapping “R” Us?”

“You do talk a lot.” Hawk Moth sighed as he observed us. “It’s starting to get on my nerves.”

“Well, I have been known to be quite vexing.” Felix finally broke through the ropes.

I stretched my wrists, “Felix, he has my miraculous.”

“So? That doesn’t mean you can’t fight.” Felix reached into his black belt that hung around his waist. He pulled out a short, silver stick. He flicked it with his wrist and it elongated into a baton. “See, look what I brought for you. Aren’t I the best?” Felix flashed a big, white smile.

“The best.”

“Now excuse me, gentlemen, I have a pretty birdie that I need to fight.” Felix pulled out his grappling hook and shot it at a lower beam. He gave me a two-finger salute before he jumped off.

“It looks like it’s just you and me now.” I raised the baton.

He narrowed his eyes and lifted his cane, “Bring it on, kid.” He sneered.

   
 **Felix**

 

“We gotta make this fast Abby.” I ran along a beam as I dodged her sharp feathers that she flung from her fan. “I have to save Marinette.”

Abby said nothing as she ran at me from the opposite end. She aimed her fan higher and I felt my line give a slight drop. “Abby, what are you doing?” I shouted as I retracted my line then threw myself onto the nearest beam. My lower body dangled in the air as I pulled myself up. Unfortunately, I looked down before I planted my butt on the beam. “Whoa, that’s…really high.” I wrapped my left arm around the vertical beam and shimmied myself into the standing position.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” Abby thrashed towards me with her fan poised to strike.

“You locked me in a bathroom with Alicio, not cool by the way-“ I dodged her first strike by diving into a crouch. “And then you just expect me to sit by and let Hawk Moth kill Adrien and Marinette?” I made a daring move as I rolled along the beam. To my and Abigail’s surprise, I didn’t fall to my death. I sat up and reached for her fan. Her sharp feathers cut through my suit and sliced the tips of my fingers as I yanked it from her.

“Do you understand what you’ve done?” Her voice was quiet. “You’ve given him exactly what he wanted.” Her sad green eyes met mine.

“What are you talking about?”

Abigail opened her mouth before she heard Hawk Moth shout from above, “Abigail, now!” Her eyes shimmered under the police lights as she snatched the fan back from me. Her small hand wrapped around my wrist with a surprising amount of force.

“Bring him up.”

Abigail spun me into a chokehold with a sharp feather pressed to my throat before I could even blink. “Just follow along and everything will be okay.”

 

**Adrien**

 

   
“You see my dear Adrien, I win.” Hawk Moth held Mari to his chest with the silver blade he had pulled from his cane to her throat. “You’re quite formidable though. I knew you were good at fencing, but you’ve surpassed my every expectation.” A cruel laugh escaped his lips. 

“Put her down.” I leaned against the baton. My arm wept a small stream of blood as I clenched my fist around the silver baton that was so like my own.

“Hawk Moth, I have him.” I heard Abigail speak for the second time. She had her arm wrapped around Felix’s throat. “I have him, let’s go.” She gracefully danced over the beams while holding Felix in her arms.

“Plans have changed.” Hawk Moth said in a flat voice.

“No.” Abigail released her grip from Felix. “That wasn’t part of the plan. That wasn’t part of the deal!”

Hawk Moth raised a gloved hand to silence her. “Do you want your parents back or not?” He proceeded to practically throw Marinette at her. Mari slumped against Abigail’s chest and her blue eyes flickered open.

“Marinette!” I let out a pained cry. “Don’t worry, Felix will get you out of here. Just hang on.”

Felix looked at Mari for the first time. His face tensed, “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. It was Abigail that harmed her.”

“Under your orders!” Felix shouted with an extremely pissed look on his face. Felix clenched his gloved fist and swung at Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth avoided his blows, but Felix didn’t seem bothered. He kept fighting with a determined look on his masked face. 

“Felix, just get her out of here!” I screamed. “She’s not going to make it if we keep fighting.” I watched them struggle for another minute before I clanged the baton on the metal. “Felix, I mean it! It’s an order.”

The world seemed to slow as I heard my father’s voice. “Adrien, what-what are you doing here?” Father stepped into the square off the top of the elevator that was meant to lift happy couples and tourists over Paris. I adjusted my position to see father standing at the end where I had originally been.

“Father…” Tears threatened to spill again as I saw the shocked look on his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Gabriel, how unexpected.” Hawk Moth bent Felix’s arm backwards. A loud pop sounded from the scuffle.

“Fuck!” Felix cursed.

“Well, I suppose this ruins things now. What a shame.” Hawk Moth resheathed his blade in his cane and proceeded to tap it against the beam three times.

“You!” Father huffed. “I knew it was you all along Laurent. You miraculous stealing ass!” Father took an assured step forward against one of the two beams that ran through the middle of our square.

“Ah, so the secret is out. I always knew I could count on you to ruin things Gabriel.” Laurent, the man from the gala that ruffled my hair, pulled something from his back pocket. “You know, I was going to make akumas.” He pressed the barrel of a handgun to Felix’s head. “But, this is so much better. It’s just more personable.”

Felix squirmed under his grasp. “When I get free-“

“But you will get free.” Hawk Moth let go of Felix with a shove who stumbled towards father. Felix almost slipped off the beam. “I’d never kill you or Adrien unless I really had to.” Hawk Moth’s statement caused us both to freeze. “Your girlfriends, on the other hand, are very disposable.” He raised the gun at Abigail who was still clutching Marinette in her arms.

Abigail’s eyes widened and her mouth gaped. “But, I did everything you said.” Her chest rose and fell in heavy pants. “You promised…you promised to bring my parents back.”

“He was the reason they died in the first place,” Gabriel said in a quiet voice. “I knew. I knew and I should have told you, but I had no idea you were the one that was working for him.”

Abigail clenched Marinette tighter. “But, you saved me. You saved me from foster care…you took me in. You took me in when my uncle didn’t want me.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Why? He’s lying. He has to be lying.”

“No, regrettably he’s not.” The gun clicked. “Originally, I took you in out of guilt, but I don’t really have a use for you anymore seeing as I’m about to get what I really want. I hope you understand.”  Hawk Moth tapped his cane one more time.

Abigail’s blue suit started to dissipate, which was then I remembered she never had the true miraculous for it. Hawk Moth used his powers to force the kwami into a fake miraculous so Abigail could be the Peacock. A tired and beaten peacock kwami fell with a tiny squeak.

“So, as my previous apprentice, I’ll let you have a choice. You can either be shot or jump from the Eiffel Tower to your most certain death.”

Abigail still looked confused at the gun.

“Fine, I’ll make the choice for you.” Hawk Moth fired the gun near Abigail.

She lurched back at the sound of the gun and I watched in slow motion as she tumbled off the narrow edge. Mari started to follow her, but her blue eyes opened and she grabbed the beam just in time.

“No!” Felix sprinted past us.

“Felix, don’t!” Father shouted.

But, it was too late. Felix jumped.

 

**Felix**

 

The only thing that ran through my mind was Abigail.

_Abigail whose red hair was as fiery as her personality._

I shot my grappling hook, “Grab it!”

_Abigail who wasn’t afraid of her feelings._

“Felix, what are you doing! You only have one grappling hook and it takes fifty seconds to reload!” Macee screeched in my ear.

_Abigail who wasn’t afraid to call me out on bullshit._

“I don’t care.” I pressed my arms together to increase my weight forward so I could catch up with her. “Abigail!”

_Abigail with creamy, pale skin that made my heart flutter._

Her silver dress flapped in the air and her red hair flew around her face, but her right hand grabbed the rope. “Felix!”

_Abigail who tried to protect me, but I didn’t listen._

My hand right hand pulled the retract button, while my left reached for Abigail. She was just out of my grasp, my fingertips brushed hers. I stretched against the airflow desperately.

_Abigail whose kisses tasted like the Cupcake Chapstick she had in her purse_

 “Felix, don’t!” She screamed as I let go of the grappling hook. With both hands, I wrapped my hand around her wrist and pulled her to my chest. I adjusted my arms and wrapped my right around Abigail as I reached for the grappling hook, but I was a second too late. It had already fallen out of my reach.

_Abigail who I never appreciated till it was too late._

I realized with a sad fact, my premonition had come true. Marinette was bleeding, I was falling my death, but this time I wasn’t terrified of the fall. “Abigail, it’s okay.” I took a deep breath and angled her on top of me. “Back at the gala, I wanted to tell you something.”

“We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die.” Abigail repeated over and over sobbing on my chest.

“I wanted to tell you that I think you’re the first real friend I ever made. In fact, I think you’d actually be my best friend if we spent more time together.” I took a deep breath and tapped my earpiece. “Hey, I need you to shut off your side Macee. I want you to remember it wasn’t your fault. It was all mine.” I heard the line go dead.

“You’re such an idiot! Why would you let go of your grappling hook! Why would you do something so stupid!” Abigail screamed as the ground rushed up to us.

“Because I couldn’t let you go.” I turned her lips up to meet mine for our very last kiss.

 

**Adrien**

 

“FELIX!” I screamed over the edge as soon as he leapt from the building. I faced Laurent with a snarl on my face. “You!” I charged at Hawk Moth with my baton raised. “Give me my ring!”

“Adrien, don-don’t worry. I got this.” Mari struggled to sit up. “You think you won Haw-Hawk Moth. Think again.” Mari opened her closed palm to reveal two earrings.

Hawk Moth narrowed his eyes. “Well played Ladybug.”

Mari put her earrings in and said, “Tikki, spots on!” A pink burst of light engulfed her. “Lucky Charm!” She shouted and threw a red spotted square down. The square increased in size as it zoomed past Felix and Abigail. It unfolded into a large cushion. “Now it’s your turn Hawk Moth.” Mari struggled to her feet. Blood seeped through her costume as she took a step forward.

“Careful, or it might be you who goes over next Ladybug.” Laurent took a step towards her. “I think your insides might fall off if you tried to use that ridiculous yo-yo of yours.” His green eyes looked all too happy at that prospect.

“Bring it on you stupid butterfly.” Mari swung her yo-yo. She winced in pain at her every movement. I couldn’t let her do this.

“No, Mari. Stop.” I spoke in a solemn voice. I had noticed hundreds of butterflies approached us from every direction. “Laurent, you said you didn’t need Abigail anymore. I’m assuming it’s because you wanted Felix or myself to join you.”

Laurent let a chuckle slip, “Yes. What a smart boy you are. Gabriel, you should be so proud all those tutoring sessions paid off.”

“I’ll join. Just leave everyone else alone.” I lowered my baton.

A wide grin formed across his face. “We’ll discuss the details later.” Laurent held out a hand.

“Adrien, don’t do this! I can fight.” Mari gasped. She stumbled to her knees.

I saw father stand despondent as he stared at me. “Father, take care of Marinette.” I walked over to Laurent and gripped his hand in mine. Hundreds of butterflies morphed into thousands as they encircled us. “I want you to respect my choices, Father. Mari-" I turned to face her one last time as the wall of wings closed in. “I love you. I love you because you’re you, and I think I  always knew you were Ladybug.” I let a sad laugh slide past my lips. “You always had the worst excuses. Take care bugaboo.” 

“Adrien!” Mari cried as father moved towards her. He wrapped her up in his arms, his classic white suit would be stained red. He finally sacrificed fashion for me. I knew he'd keep her safe. It was my last wish.

“Adrien.” Tears streamed down my father’s normally expressionless face. He looked devastated while cradling her. 

“Goodbye.”

   
 **Felix**

 

 I saw the night sky fill with butterflies as I braced myself to smack the cement. I pressed Abigail close. “I just realized something. I should have asked Macee to clear my browser history.”

“That’s your last regret?” Abigail’s voice was muffled against my chest.

“Well, that and Alicio thinks I go to furry orgies.”

I felt Abigail’s shoulders shake against my arms in what I could only assume was laughter.

“And all I can taste is this moment. All I can breathe is your life.” I sang so softly I wasn’t sure Abigail could hear me.

“And sooner or later it’s over. I just don’t want to miss you tonight.” Abigail answered horribly off key.

“You’re a terrible singer.” I felt us fall faster. My back tensed as I readied myself to hit the cement below.

“I know. I’m just sad that I didn’t get to annoy you more with it.”

I cradled her head and squeezed my eyes shut. But, my back didn’t meet cement. I smacked against something like an airbag and bounced high into the air. My back hit it again, and again until we finally bounced to a stop. “We’re alive!” I wanted to celebrate, but I knew I had to save Adrien. I sat up against the red spotted cushion to see a shit ton of butterflies flap around the top of the Eiffel Tower.

“Felix, you have to go save him.” Abigail coughed. “He’s going to take Adrien!”

Her words chilled me to the core. “No, he’s not!” I scrambled off the cushion and searched for my grappling hook.

“It’s to your left.” Macee’s voice rang in my ear. “I’m glad…I’m glad you’re not a pavement pancake right now.”

“Me too!” I scooped up my grappling hook and shot it upwards. “But, could you delete my browser history?”

“Why, so no one searches through your porn history?” I heard clicks from his end before laughter filled my ear, “You watch henti?”

“Fuck off! I did not.” I said as I zoomed upwards against the night sky. “I accidentally clicked it.”

“Whatever makes yourself feel better.” Macee chuckled.

“Back to a relevant topic, why would Hawk Moth have so many butterflies anyway? It’s not like he can escape by flying on them.”

“Adrien!” Marinette’s terrified scream made my whole body tense.

“Shit!” I was only halfway up the tower. “Adrien!” I shouted. I reloaded my grappling hook and shot it again. “Hold on!” My line was too slow.

“Adrien, my son.” I heard Gabriel cry.

By the time I reached the top, the butterflies had thinned. The only people there were an untransformed Marinette being held by a sobbing Gabriel. I sank to my knees. I was too late. I was too late and Adrien was gone.

  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys,
> 
> Follow up series will be started in the next week or two. I am also on tumblr under the same user name, so if you have fanart you wanna submit I will proudly post it :D I am currently working on my own fanart and will post something once it's finished/sharable. Drawing skills have been a slow process to improve. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/greeneyedciel
> 
> Feel free to send your hatred my way if this chapter made you break your phone. I'll always respond in the comments below. 
> 
> Again thank you for the amazing support on this wild, hilarious ride. I hope you continue to read about Felix/Adrien antics in the next series.


	33. Felix's Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien sacrificed himself to Hawk Moth in order to save Marinette and Felix, but now he is trapped with a man who's painful past turned him into a villain not to be messed with. 
> 
> Felix and Marinette must work together in order to save Adrien from Hawk Moth's clutches before he does something he cannot undo.

**Felix**

 

Marinette needed 17 stitches and two weeks bedrest once we took her to the hospital. I realized this was really all my fault. If I had just been more honest...none of this would have happened. 

“Dad, I need to talk to you about Laurent,” I said after Mari fell asleep around four in the morning. Her father had left to open up the bakery, but her mom sat beside her bed. 

“We should really be going. We’re intruding.” Gabriel stood from his little blue chair parked along the hospital window. 

“I wanted to talk to you about Hawk Moth,” I repeated when I stood up.

“There’s nothing to say.”  He ushered me out of the room by grabbing my upper arm like he didn't expect me to follow him even though he was my ride home.

“That’s bullshit dad. That’s bullshit and you know it.” I quickened my pace to match his as he led us out into the long, white hallway. “You know him.”

“I knew him. He’s obviously had a break from reality.” Gabriel pulled out his phone. He started clicking things as we made our way towards the elevator. “We have more important things to worry about now than digging up the past.” 

Adrien, how could I forget that moment when I lost him. “No, we need to discuss Laurent.” 

“We don’t need to discuss anything related to him.” Gabriel snapped and smoothed back his hair. 

“You’re related to him!” I pointed my index finger at his chest. I suddenly knew how Abigail felt when she got frustrated with me. 

“I am not related to that monster anymore.” His said solemnly. “Now pull that hoodie over your head and try not to let the press see you.” Gabriel jerked the navy hoodie over my eyes. 

“Oh, like the press knows we’re here.” I rolled my eyes and shoved my hoodie down. As the elevator dinged, the silver doors parted to reveal a dozen journalists pacing the entrance. “Okay, so maybe you’re right.” 

“This won’t do.” Gabriel pulled out his phone then clicked the elevator doors shut. “Pull the car around to the employee parking lot. We’ll meet you there.” Gabriel ended the call and slid his phone back into his pants pocket. Gabriel may not have been wearing his signature white suit, but he was considerably overdressed to be in a hospital. His pants were too fancy, his dress shirt screamed designer, not the department store kind either, and he slipped a pair of Oakley sunglasses on. I should remind myself to raid his closet later. I bet he wouldn't miss a pair.  

“I’m not giving up ya know,” I announced as the elevator crawled to the third floor. “I’m gonna figure it out eventually.” 

“Mmm.” Gabriel murmured and quickly exited the elevator once the doors opened once more. His arms were neatly tucked at his side as he walked like a soldier through the massive hospital scaring nursing staff because they thought he was management.

“I’m serious! I didn’t read all those Nancy Drew novels for nothin’.” 

Gabriel made a noise that sounded like a mixture between a groan of annoyance and defeat. We sped down the hallways until we reached some back stairs that we probably weren’t supposed to go down. I followed Gabriel so closely that every once in awhile we’d bump arms or shoulders. For once, Gabriel didn’t seem to mind the physical contact. 

Finally, the last door opened to the employee parking lot where Adrien’s normal silver car sat with the Gorilla inside. Gabriel opened the car door unceremoniously and I slid inside. 

“So are we going to talk about it?” I asked again. 

Gabriel made that strangled sigh again then proceeded to picked up the morning paper neatly placed between our seat. He snapped it open and shoved his face between the pages. 

“So, you’re just gonna ignore me?” I poked the front page that showed a grainy image of Hawk Moth and Ladybug. You couldn’t see anything else. Hopefully, no one saw Adrien or Gabriel up there with us.

“I’m not ignoring you, Felix. I’m choosing to ignore your topic of conversation. There’s a difference.” 

“Ah, well I’m so happy you clarified that for me.” I leaned back against the leather seat. “What should I discuss with you? My imminent life grounding sentence? My plan to find Adrien? Why you’re boning my mother again?” 

The small sound of paper ripping filled the back seat. “Not right now.” Gabriel’s voice dripped icy authority. 

I leaned away from him to stare out the window. I hoped Adrien was okay. 

 

**Marinette**

 

My parents knew I was Ladybug. They’ve known for awhile. They were awfully considerate towards my superhero activities. After I was released, the doctor ordered me to two weeks bedrest. Luckily, the doctor didn't know about my superhero activities or my magical suit. Like hell I was going to waste two in my room while Adrien was in danger.

The first week was torture. Mama and Papa insisted I take one week off. "Felix and Abigail can handle it," Tikki said on the second day. "Paris hasn't burned down yet."

Apparently, Felix didn’t stop searching for Adrien for the entire week. 

"You need to tell him to stop, Marinette. I know you don’t trust me, and you have every right not to. But, please make him stop! He doesn’t sleep, he barely eats, and he even misses his favorite cartoons," Abigail begged over the phone to make him stop. "He missed the Star Vs. The Forces of Evil movie just so he could search more! It’s serious!"

“Felix, we need to talk,” I said from my bed once Felix dropped by at two in the morning on Thursday. He'd been searching for five days straight.

Felix started to wrench off his suit starting with the white overlay, “About what?” He asked in a frosty tone. He shimmied the white top of his suit off and stood in all black spandex. He ripped off the black top to reveal a sweaty, toned torso.

“You need to take a break. I want Adrien back too-” 

“Mari, I am fine. Finding Adrien is more important than my well being anyway.” Felix averted his grey eyes from me as he tugged on a pair of jeans. 

“Felix.” I sighed his name like I was talking to someone in a dream. I missed Felix. I missed his body holding mine, but that was over now. Even though Felix had religiously visited me every day this week, he’d acted differently. He held back on his teasing, he had bags under his eyes that looked like purple bruises, and he avoided sitting with me on my bed. 

“We should patrol tomorrow; Macee has a list of buildings Laurent has invested in over the years. I’ve searched about half the list, but....” Felix finally looked at me, “There’s still thirty more buildings. That doesn’t even narrow down his real estate options honestly. He has investments all over France. He’s probably not even in Paris anymore.” Felix collapsed onto my office chair. “It’s all my fault you know. I could have stopped all of this.” His blond head hung in defeat. Felix slammed his right fist on my desk, “I should have been better! I should have been stronger.” 

“Felix, you are strong. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I should never have let Abigail get the upper hand over me.” My pride was still hurt by that fact Abigail had defeated me without much effort at all. 

“I think both of you need to rest,” Tikki said sweetly from my shoulder. “We’ll find Adrien and defeat Hawk Moth. Not amount of worrying or blame is going to make it happen any faster.” 

Felix said nothing. He tapped his fingertips on my desk with a far away look in his eyes. 

“Do you want to play video games?” I asked in a soft voice. 

Felix shook his head. 

We sat in pained silence till Felix stood up. “I should go, it’s almost four in the morning.” Felix stood up without and threw on the spandex top. “I’ll see you tonight.” 

I stretched my hand out as if I could will him to stay, but the words I wanted to say died on my lips. Moments later he was gone. 

 

**Adrien**

 

Laurent had me packed inside a dimly lit train car that was going who knows where. It was the second move this week. I closed my eyes as my hands itched for my phone that he had broken the moment I gave myself over to him. 

Surprisingly, Laurent left me alone most of the time and never talked to me unless he needed to. I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing as loneliness crept over me. It was a hallowing feeling being alone after weeks of Felix constantly being at my side. If he had been here tapped with me, he would have figured a way out of this mess by now. I smiled at the thought of Felix annoying Laurent to death with his anime references. “Sailor Felix, I need you.” I let a sad laugh slip into the darkness of the car. Of course, there was no response. Felix wasn’t here and I was alone. More alone than I ever had been in my life.

 

**Felix**

 

Gabriel hired a team of private investigators that hadn’t found anything in yet. He refused to go to the police and expose his son as Chat Noir after he held a press conference explaining why he had been on the Effiel Tower that night. The press conference that exposed Laurent Beauchene as Hawk Moth.

“The Agreste name cannot survive that! Think of all the danger Adrien would be in.” Gabriel shouted as he paced inside his office again.

I stood outside the door unnoticed. I had given up on bugging him about Laurent for now, but I searched through his old records in the tiny attic above the garage stairs. There wasn’t anything about him besides one picture of Adrien’s mom with him.

“Maybe we’re going about this all wrong.” Macee offered when I got up to my room. “Maybe he was connected with Mr. Agrete in another way besides just marrying Adrien’s mom.”

“Probably, why else would he go to all this trouble?” I laid on my bed. “That’s enough, for now, Macee. You need sleep.”

“And you don’t?”

“That’s what I’m going to do.” I pulled out the earpiece threw it on my bedside table. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears, but I could still hear Marinette’s scream. All I could see was the wave of butterflies carry Adrien away. “I’m so sorry Adrien. It’s all my fault.” I finally fell into a restless sleep, but the dream was the same as the nightmare reality of my waking life. Adrien was still gone when I woke up two hours later.

 

He was gone.

 

It was all my fault.

 

I might never see him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well isn't this a walk down memory lane? It's almost been a year, so why not combine Summer in Paris, But It's No Fairy Tale and Autumn together? 
> 
>  
> 
> Basically I decided to do this just to make things easier on new readers. Hopefully old readers have noticed if they reread any previous chapters that my writing improved! I went back and updated all the previous chapters, which took forever and made me cringe, but it was necessary. 
> 
> BTW a lot of these references are from last summer when I started Autumn in Paris like new Star Vs. Forces of Evil. I'll be posting all the recent chapters everyday this week till I'm caught up then writing new ones.


	34. Felix and Marinette's Trip to the Louvre

 

**Felix**

 

I exhaled my cigarette tiredly. A lone puff of smoke floated to the dark, wooden ceiling of Abigail’s apartment.

“You didn’t even sleep, did you?” She yawned and threw her slim arm over my bare chest.

I said nothing. I just continued my chain-smoking session. My nerves were mellowed out now, but bouts of anxiety-gut wrenching anguish had kept me from sleeping peacefully. The fact I was more tired than when I laid down meant that maybe I could actually fall into a dreamless sleep for once.

“So, this is how you want to spend your birthday?” Abigail crawled over only to flop down on the front of my chest. Her red hair reflected the early morning rays of light that streamed through her large bedroom window making her hair look like it was on fire. It reminded me of that time we made out in the park back when I had thought it would have been a good idea to take on Hawk Moth all by myself. That was weeks ago. I should have listened to Marinette-I should have listened to Adrien.

I gave a single nod then stretched my left arm to the nearby nightstand to crushed my cigarette butt into the overfilled ashtray while I drank in the sight of her to save me from going down that guilt trip again. Her creamy skin looked paler in my black t-shirt paired with polar bear pajama shorts that rode up her slender thighs. Her fiery hair was an exquisite mess that was only half constrained by a single black band, and those bright green eyes partly hidden as she gazed at me through half-lidded sleepy eyes.

Abigail gave a large sigh, “If you’re not going to have sex with me then get out. We can hang out later.” She gave my shoulder a small shove before she rolled off of me.

I chuckled, “Alright. You might tempt me to break my newfound vow of chastity anyway.” I stumbled out of bed towards the chair I threw my spare jeans on.

“You told me you didn’t want to sleep here, yet you leave spare clothes in my drawer.” Abigail scrunched her cute nose, “And your cigarette butts on my nightstand. I don't think your not sleep with Abigail plan is working out so well."

“They’re actually in an ashtray. There’s a difference.” I smirked as I pulled my faded jeans on.

“Yeah, well now my bedroom stinks. Thanks for that.” She stretched her long limbs over a majority of the bed followed by nestling herself on her overly large pile of royal blue and hunter green pillows. “You’re making my kwami sad.” She reached her right arm towards the other nightstand where a small peacock kwami, Duusu, slept nuzzled in a red scarf. Abigail adjusted the scarf before she twisted her gaze back to me.

“He cries about everything.” I blew off her concern. I buttoned my jeans and strode towards her, “And I need my shirt back S'il vous plaît.” I leaned over her.

She wrapped her legs around my waist. “Wrestle me for it.” She said with a sly grin.

My heart fluttered at her invitation, “I can’t-don’t have time. We have a shoot in three hours.” I kissed her forehead before I ripped my t-shirt off her body.

“I don’t want to go.” She whined. “I just want to sleep.” She curled under her massive blue peacock comforter.

“How do you think I feel?” I snorted. I hadn’t slept properly in three weeks. The only time I got any passable amount of sleep is when I snuck into Abigail’s apartment. But, even that didn’t keep the nightmares at bay for very long.

“We’ll find him. It’s not like Adrien and Hawk Moth just disappeared off the face of the planet.” Abigail turned away from me. I knew his betrayal still stung, which was why she avoided talking about it besides giving me leads of where he might possibly be.

“Yeah.” I tugged my black t-shirt over my head. “But, that’s what we’ve been saying for the past three weeks.”

 

**Adrien**

 

“Again,” Laurent demanded. He turned his fencing sword on me. “You’ve been improving Adrien.”

I charged at him, “I know.” I said coldly. Laurent was finally spending time with me after two weeks of basically ignoring me, but now he was just demanding. Laurent desired nothing short of perfection so very much like my own father. “You didn't just kidnap me to play chess or fence with you, Laurent. I want to know what you’re planning.”

His green eyes glittered under the overhead lights as he knocked my fencing sword from my hand, “When you’re able to beat me in fencing, I’ll divulge everything.” He let a cool smirk cross his lips. “Now, pick up your sword and we’ll try again.”

 

**Felix**

 

“So aren’t you going to do anything special for your birthday?” Mari looked at me with her large, bluebell eyes from her folded arm position on the back of her office chair.

“Naw, I don’t want to celebrate anything until we get Adrien back.” My throat started to close again; the feeling of drowning returned. Maybe hanging out with her after my shoot hadn’t been the best idea.

“At least eat a pain au chocolate.” Marinette gestured to the untouched plate that sat on her loveseat sofa.

I pressed my lips into a thin line, “I’m not really all that hungry.” I wasn’t hungry, I was tired.

Marinette let out a forced sighed, “Do you want to go somewhere? Alya wanted to see a new exhibit at the Louvre.”

More guilt- fresh guilt flooded me. I hadn’t realized I’d become a pain to put up with in my crusade to get Adrien back. “An educational trip would get Gabriel off my back.” I rubbed my chin, “Let’s do it.”

“I’ll text Alya.”

I curled my lower lip into a weird grimace, “Shouldn’t we avoid her? Won’t she wonder where Adrien is? It’s bad enough I have to pretend to be Adrien and text Nino-”

“But, Alya is my best friend! I’m not going to avoid her.” Mari pouted and returned to her phone.

Damn that cute pout. “So what are we going to tell her?”

“Same thing we told Nino: Adrien is away in America with your Maman.” Mari’s pigtails bounced on her shoulders as crossed her bedroom to roll closer to me.

Now I felt even guiltier because I wasn’t even comfortable with her enough to share her bed like we used to when we hang out. The wedge I drove between us was in the best interest of both of us. I wasn’t even sure about my feelings for her anymore since I took a nose dive off the Eiffel Tower to save Abigail. Now I filled my time with her instead of my normal Marinette time. Including my nights.

My heart clenched at the whiff of her strawberry scent rising from the pink bed sheets that engulfed my nose when I shifted to my arms. Things were just awkward now without discussing that kiss we shared before Adrien’s disappearance. “She’s coming back next week. Apparently, someone is already making an offer on the house and they seem pretty serious.”

“Are you sad about that?” Mari dropped her phone on the loveseat by the plate of untouched chocolate croissants. “About her selling the house?”

I knew Mari well enough now to know what she really meant: Are you sad about moving here? “Not really. I’m sad I’ll probably never get to eat good pizza again, but America isn’t that great.”

Mari threw a pale pink pillow at my head, “Italy is literally a train ride away. The nation that invented pizza.”

“But, it’s not Chicago pizza. You wouldn’t understand.” I patted my stomach, “Okay, now I’m hungry. Throw me one.” I plucked up a buttery, chocolate mess midflight and shoved it in my mouth in a single, ravenous bite. A burst of chocolate rolled over my tongue as I chewed.

“You can always travel back there,” Mari said without the possibility I could just move back there on my own. I was officially 18 now, so it’s not like I needed a parent.

I shrugged, “I suppose so. Throw me another please.” I caught another croissant one-handed. “What does she want to see there?”

“Oh, there was something cool donated recently that she theorizes, after some article she read on the internet, is tied to the miraculouses.” Marinette scrolled through her phone before her blue eyes went wide. “Oh no.” Her face contorted in panic. “Felix, it’s that book Adrien lost at the end of the last school year!” Mari bound out of her chair and threw herself up on the bed in a two-step movement just to shove her phone in my face.

“Okay?” My confused gaze flickered between her and the screen.

“Oh, I never told you about this fiasco. Okay so there was this girl named Lilia-” Mari’s nose wrinkled back disgusted, “And she was all over Adrien!”

“So, this bitch Lilia was all on yo man.” I pressed my lips and gave her my best sassy expression. “Gurrlll, what did you do?”

Mari rolled her eyes, “So I followed-”

“Stalked,” I interjected.

“FOLLOWED-” Mari emphasized the word heavily, “Them to the library and I watched her steal it from him, so I knew for sure she was a bad news. And then she was lying about being Volpina and that she knew Ladybug, so of course I transformed to ruin her attempt to trick Adrien into a date, but then she transformed into Volpina because of an akuma in an attempt to steal our miraculouses, which didn’t work. So, then after the battle Adrien and I won together, I took the book to Master Fu like Tikki said.”

“Okay?”

“That means something happened to Master Fu if it was donated as a museum piece.” Tikki finished. “He would never let something so priceless go, especially to the public.”

My eyes widened, “So what are we going to do? Steal it back?” I could already feel Macee breathing down my neck about breaking the law. At least Abigail would be useful for this mission. My mind drifted to all the angles her body would twist in to get through the lasers...

“I’m going to go check on Master Fu first. We’re going to need schematics of the Louvre.”

“What about Alya?” I raised a brow. “Now, do you see my point about inviting her places during Adrien crisis.”

Mari bit her lip, “Well how about we split up. I’ll check on Master Fu and you can let Macee hack the Louvre to figure out the security while you distract Alya with your charming personality.”

My body was already sore at the prospect of her beating me, “Alright. Hopefully, he's okay.” My voice sounded hollow. I felt like I’d been saying I hoped a lot of people were okay these days.

* * *

  
“So…” I frowned trying to think of something to say. My eyes desperately scanned the exhibits in front of us for a conversation starter. “People sure did have weird penises back in the day, huh?”

Alya practically growled, “Felix, where's Mari?” Her right foot tapped against the polished marble floor impatiently. Alya tapped her foot impatiently. “The museum is only open for 4 more hours, and I was hoping to grab something called dinner before then.” Alya rolled her eyes at the naked statue in front of us. “And stop feeling superior because your dick is bigger than his. That guy did not get sculpted for future generations just to have you compare your dick size against his.”

“Of course not. It wouldn't even be an accurate comparison. It could have been a cold day or the sculptor was a douche and made it look smaller on purpose because he was insanely jealous. For all we know, the guy was a grower-”

“Finch, I'm this close to bashing your face in.” Alya held up her index finger and thumb with an extremely tiny amount of space between them.

“Now who's making fun of his dick size?” I grinned as her fist flew at my face. “Alya, chill. Do you want to get us kicked out?”

Alya let out a defeated huff, “I guess not.”

“Good.” I leaned against the white column behind me to the irritation of an elderly security guard. Even though I felt like giving him the bird, I pushed myself off with a groan. We’d been standing for a half hour already. “Can you call her again?” I begged Alya. My stomach growled in protest since I ate the pain au chocolate that Mari gave me. Apparently, my body was now over starvation mode after becoming uninterested in food these past three weeks because I was fraught with worry.

“I already have twice. Why don't you?”

“I've been texting her!” And Abigail...and Macee, but I failed to add in those two. “Maybe we should just get started without her. That guard might mistake me for an exhibit piece if I keep standing here.” I ran my fingers through my light blond hair and flexed in a manner reminiscent to Johnny Bravo.

Alya laughed, “Yeah, I guess they could use more statues in their ‘small dicks but big egos section.’” She snapped her fingers, “Maybe he’ll stick you next to your best friend right over there! You’d have all the time in the world to compare your junk.”

I pursed my lips, “You know Alya, I normally would show you how wrong you are, but my love life is complicated enough as it is. So, I'm gonna let that slide.” I started walking towards a staircase crammed with people. “Let’s just go this way.”

  
**Adrien**

 

Dinner was quiet. Quiet like always since we arrived in this huge mansion somewhere on the outskirts of civilization. I shoveled soup into my mouth while looking around the baren dining room from the mahogany table that stretched even further than the one at the manor. What I couldn’t understand is why he had such a table. It’s not like this guy had a lot of company. Laurent liked antiques, at least from what I observed, and he too had paintings and pictures of my mother plastered everywhere that ranged from baby to young adult. The pictures mostly adorned the third level hallway or Laurent’s open study. I was sure he had another one for his villainous purposes. His open study was too...friendly.

I wanted to ask about them. I wanted to ask all sorts of questions about my mother, about how she really died. But, he seemed very insistent that he would only include me when I have earned it. It's been three weeks-maybe more. I didn't have a phone to keep track and the summer days just began to run together anyway.

I wonder what Felix would have done to earn Hawk Moth’s trust? I wondered how I even earned his favor to even be picked anyway, not that this hostage situation was any prize. These were questions I'd have to write down somewhere and ask after I formed my plan on how to get him to trust me.

I finished my cold soup and stared into the brown wood under my hands. Just how was I going to do that and get out of here alive?

  
**Felix**

 

“Mmm, another penis. Art is just fascinating.” I scratched my chin. “I bet people masturbate to this back in the day.”

Alya slapped her forehead, “Could you please just stop? There is literally a group of kids right there!”

“Yeah, and their dad totally agrees with me. That guy is my new hero. Kudos to you random father.” I pointed at him dramatically.

The tired man smiles and muttered something to me about always use a condom before his kids dragged him down the hall.

My heart went out to the random dad who shares my sense of humor. “Annddd I'm officially never having kids.”

“You’ll change your mind.”

I shook my head, “Nope. I don't want to have to fight for second base.”

Alya glared at me, “Can you stop thinking about sex for five minutes?”

“I can certainly try, but I guaran-titty nothing.”

Alya paused in the middle of the hallway just to stare at me, “Never do that again.” Her face was dead serious in a way I’d never seen before.

I yawned, “Message received.” The museum was cool, but after waiting for Marinette for two the novelty had worn off. Now I was insanely tired and ready for a nap.

Just as I was about to snooze on a statue in the outer exhibit, Marinette came running up to us.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Her pigtails bounced wildly as she approached. She wore my well cherished blue hoodie that I left over there a couple of weeks ago, a black tank, and jean shorts.

“It’s fine.” Alya eyed the huge hoodie that enveloped her small frame wearily. She opened her mouth to say something when I interjected.

“Alya has been looking at penises for the past hour.” I blurted.

Mari’s cheeks turned a bright red, “Alya!”

Alya waved her hands, “NO! He was the one doing that!”

“Hey, don’t blame me for your phallic obsession.” I laughed before I hid behind Marinette to avoid her fists.

Mari tugged my right hand off her shoulder, “Come on you two. Let’s go check out that exhibit.”

“I swear Finch, I will beat you black and blue once we leave.”

I bit back a laugh, “Is that a promise?”

“Now I’m going to do it twice as hard.” She snarled.

I flashed her a knowing look, “Like I said, is that a promise?”

Mari stepped between us, “Knock it off you two. We need to look at that book.” The voice of reason grabbed both of our hands then proceeded to drag us down the hallway after hallway until we reached our destination.

I glanced down at Marinette before I eyed the brown book behind a glass box, “Did you ever find that ‘package’ that went missing.” I asked.

Mari dropped both of our hands. She stepped forward to press her palm against the crystal clear glass. “No. It wasn’t home.” The air went very still, “But, it looked like the place had a delivery man visit.”

“Oh?”

Mari nodded, “The record player was gone.”

 


	35. Marinette's confrontation

 

  
**Felix**

“So, what's more important: finding Fu, or getting the book back?” Macee asked through the earpiece.

I wanted to say Fu, but Tikki insisted the book was more important. “No clue.” I lied. “I'd have to discuss with Ladybug and Abigail.” My left foot fidgeted over the end of the roof I roosted on. It would be a far fall if I slipped.

“You do know that I know that Ladybug is Marionette Dupain-Cheng, right? I could hear everyone shouting her name during the Hawk Moth Adrien kidnapping fiasco.”

Oh, that night. It still haunted me like it was yesterday. “Right. I just forgot. I...I’ve had trouble focusing-remembering lately.” I banged my baton, my latest weapon Macee acquired for me that was eerily similar to Chat’s, against the metal roof. I really should paint the silver stick black...maybe black and white so I’d at least be somewhat original. Now that Adrien was gone, I felt like a cheap knockoff. I always thought I was my own hero, okay sidekick, but in this quiet moment standing on this roof felt wrong. It felt like a lie.

“Understandable. I could always consult Max for making a new program so maybe we could track him faster?”

I lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out over Paris disgusted with the city that didn’t even notice Adrien’s disappearance. Disgusted with myself. “Just keep checking his properties. We’ll find him. We have to find him. We don’t have the time to waste building a program.” I gazed down at the city of lights with the thought that dripped in the back of my mind like a leaky faucet since the night he went missing. We may never find him.

  
I patrolled until the sun rose over the horizon. My eyes itched, my body screamed for sleep, and my muscles had been pushed to the brink of absolute exhaustion. I spent three hours patrolling for crime alone and then another three just searching for Adrien. In the end, I wound up right back where it started: the Eiffel Tower. I’d grown to hate this stupid tower over the last three weeks. The Eiffel Tower, I decided, was a shitty landmark. Who picks a fucking tower anyway? The metal was faded, so it wasn’t even pretty anymore despite the hordes of tourists who’d like you to believe otherwise. I wish I had cataclysm just to destroy it. I glared up at the tarnished metal under the morning rays of light.

A blue figure leaped out of nowhere so fast they appeared to be a blur. “Do you need some help kitten?” Abigail's brilliant red tresses flickered in the early morning breeze as she posted herself up on the beam above me. She looked stunning-like a peacock goddess. It reminded me of Finn seeing Flame princess for the first time in the sense whenever I feasted my eyes upon her, my brain went dumb.

“Please,” I said with a weak smile. “I actually might need you to carry me.” My knees knocked inwards. “I-I don't think I can make it.”

Abigail paused. I could feel her eyes bore into me before she spoke, “Jesus, Felix! You can't keep doing this to yourself.”

At least she knew I wasn’t joking now, I thought. I watched Abigail jumped down from the beam to make a superhero landing on the grey concrete below. “That’s really hard on the knees.” I collapsed onto the hard ground. “I know that’s true because Deadpool told me so.” My face suddenly felt very hot as her large breasts were practically shoved in my face. A gloved hand covered my forehead.

“You feel hot.”

She squatted down in front of me. Her green eyes narrowed as she observed me, “You need to stop staying out all night.” She stood up again. Her slender waist and hips filled my view along with something far more appetizing.

“I can't just give up on him.” I made a bold move of pressing my face against her toned stomach. “It should have been me you know.” I closed my eyes to the sensation of Abigail’s skillful fingers running through my sweaty hair. “It was my fault. Hawk Moth wanted me and I just let him go.” The emotions I held back for so long poured out. I wrapped my tired arms around her waist pressing my face even closer against her. “I let him-I let him go. Adrien could be dead or hurt because I let Hawk Moth get away with his stupid plan.” I choked out as tears leaked onto the blue fabric of her costume. “Adrien didn’t deserve this!” But, I did. I weaved the web of my own lies, yet it was Adrien who had been ensnared by it.

Abigail said nothing as she continued to stroke my hair.

 

**Marinette**

  
I started to worry after Felix stopped answering his phone, so I went out to search for him.

I found him-I found them.

Felix had his face pressed against Abigail’s flat stomach like a child. His shoulders shook, which probably meant he was crying against her as his gloves fingers indented themselves on her hips.

Her long, red hair waved in the morning gusts like Pocahontas. It was unfair, I frowned. How was I supposed to compete with that? I wasn't a hundred percent sure I wanted Felix anymore, but I still liked him. I couldn’t lie about liking him, but I also hadn’t discussed my feelings about Felix with Alya yet because it was difficult to put into words. I liked Felix in a way that was like falling for your best friend. It was natural-comfortable. But, I also liked to see him as a sort of older brother I could confide in. Unlike everything I felt about Adrien.

Liking Adrien was like being in love with a God. It consumed everything you had to give and crushed the life out of you till you were left wheezing his name in your dying breath. It was a high that you could never forget, yet you were drained every single time afterward. No matter how nice he was, no matter how much of a gentleman, being in love with him made you stare into a mirror and criticize every single flaw you had with vengeance. I questioned every compliment he ever gave me. I questioned the fact he said he loved me. I remembered every kiss he gave me and I still wonder what would have happened if I had actually let myself freely enjoy them. I couldn’t forget how he engrossed my entire freshman existence before Felix just waltzed in out of nowhere and flipped my life upside down.

He was so different from Adrien. He was rude, outspoken, rebelled against authority, thought outside the box, referenced anything he could think of off the top of his head. He could be extremely awkward at times, and, of course, he's extremely hot. That was a given though. How could you not be hot when your mom used to be one of the top ten models in the world? He didn’t look anything like her though with her tanned skin, her perfect sable caramel highlighted hair and those giant green eyes. Adrien’s mom had green eyes too. Mr. Agreste must have a thing for green eyes...like me. Like Felix, who seemed very close with Abigail recently. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me considering how he jumped off the Eiffel Tower nearly four weeks ago to save her. The night Hawk Moth ran off with Adrien.

I should forgive her, after all, she was just another victim in his plans. But, why did I get the faintest sensation that she was hiding something from us?

I pursed my lips as their embrace. If she was still on his side, she would be torn down and ground into dust. I will not be merciful, I promised myself. She would burn if she hurt us again.

  
**Felix**

The next thing I knew, Gabriel was booming at me just like at the beginning of the summer,“Felix Agreste! Young man, you get your butt out of bed. You have a photo shoot in an hour!” He forced the covers off.

I grabbed them from his hands in a daze, “Ten more minutes.” I wanted to point out that this was the first decent night of sleep I've had in four weeks, but my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth like glue.

“Felix, you can sleep after. Now get up.” He yanked the white covers off again.

“Just kill me instead. Sacrifice my soul to the modeling god as punishment, but let me sleep.” Drool dripped out of the right corner of my mouth. I didn’t even dream. My sleep was perfect until Gabriel ruined it.

He got a firm grasp on my left wrist, “Very amusing Felix. But, you have twice as many gigs while Adrien is…” Gabriel cleared his throat searching for the right words to say, “Away. Someone needs to represent the Agreste brand.”

My head lolled against the pillow limply, “Make Abigail do it.” I yawned. “I'll just sleep for the next week.”

Gabriel pulled till I found myself splayed halfway over the bed, “Abigail doesn't bare the Agreste name. You do.”

I collapsed on the floor with my butt in the air, “Ugh.” I groaned. “Don't you have a third son somewhere that you can make do this? Did you knock up Natalie at some point?” I said making my move towards the closet on my stomach like a slug.

“Not even as a joke young man, and stop doing that!” Gabriel stomped his foot. “And I hope to God I don’t because I can only handle one of you.”

“Another brother wouldn't be so bad.” I pulled myself up while I clung to the closet door handle. “I could send him to all my shoots and feed him the broccoli I didn't want to eat.”

Gabriel snorted, “Are you describing a person or the family dog?”

I yanked the closet door open, “We could get both.”

“I can't just buy a child-”

I glanced over my shoulder to give him a look. “I am 100% sure you can.”

“I can't just make another child for you and Adrien to ship off to shoots.” His voice hitched at Adrien, but his salty gaze remained.

“Ah, you're right.”

“Thank you.”

“The new kid would be too tan. We got lucky with me, but I guarantee the next kid would be a tan brunette. That would break the blond Agreste trend we have going on.”

The sound of Gabriel breaking his glasses echoed through my room. “Just get ready and go downstairs. Please don’t talk the rest of the day.”

“But, I’m just getting warmed up! If you’re having another kid with my mom, you should hear the baby names I can come up with. How about Goku Lightning Bolt Agreste. Anime fans would eat that shit up. Or, here’s one, what about Lawliet Agreste. I’m a huge fan of Death Note. Lawliet Light Agrest. Light Lawliet Agreste. Pretty catchy, right?”

Gabriel was already jogging down the hall muttering some sort of prayer about a vasectomy.

I leaned out into the white hallway, “What about Karma Agreste? I just finished Assassination Classroom! He’s a cool character. We could always go in the direction of DC characters too! I’m totally open to Garfield Agreste or Richard Agrest. We could nickname him Dick!”

Gabriel’s footsteps retreated into the distance till it they were only a faint tapping. I had a distinct feeling he would never have another kid. “Well, that’s a shame. I suppose I could just name Adrien’s kid Goku. I bet Macee could help me pull that off.” I snapped my fingers, “Or Misa if it’s a girl. No, wait, maybe Anri...Kallen?” As I got dressed I ran through my list of top female anime characters with easy names until Gabriel screamed for me to come downstairs.

“Now all I want to do is watch anime.” I shuffled out of my room begrudgingly, “Fucking Adrien had to go be the hero. He should have just let Hawk Moth have me then I could be sleeping right now.” My heart ached as I passed his empty room. I missed my brother.

  
**Marinette**

“I thought you didn’t do Ladybug patrolling during the day. Don’t you have a boulangerie to help run in the summer?” Abigail rested her right hand on her hip.

“This is more important.” I swung my yo-yo absently. “I need you to tell me about your plans with Laurent.”

She shifted her weight to her right side, “I already told Felix. I don’t have to answer to you.” Her red hair lifted in the wind, “I’m not going to try and be friends with you if you aren’t going to trust me.”

“Why would I trust a traitor? You stole the miraculous from Master Fu who happens to be missing at the moment, and you’ve been nothing but trouble since you appeared.” I took a step closer, “I don’t trust you. I don’t even like you. You’re arrogant, conceited, and wouldn’t listen to Felix when he repeatedly told you Hawk Moth was just using you. You knew he was going to hurt my friends, but you still went along with his plans anyway.” My temper ran close to boiling over. "Now Adrien is gone! Are you happy with yourself?"

Her green eyes flashed and her mouth pressed into a thin line. “You already know my reasons for why I did that.”

I swung my yo-yo menacingly, “Well maybe I need a refresher.”

“My parents died when I was eleven. My mother was never around much anyway. She supposedly was having an affair behind my father’s back. I wouldn’t doubt that it was with Laurent now either. Mrs. Agreste died in the same accident.” Abigail shook her head, “I thought it was a car accident. Now I know better. It was something Laurent caused himself but blamed Mr. Agreste for. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a bomb or something. Mr. Agreste hasn’t told me how yet.”

Guilt started to eat away at me. “I’m sorry.”

She snorted and turned her head upwards, “That’s what everyone says. I’m sorry. Those bullshit words don’t mean anything.” She let out a cold laugh. “That’s the exact thing my uncle said when he refused to take me in. ‘I’m sorry, I just don’t have time. It wouldn’t be FAIR to you,’ who the fuck says that to an eleven-year-old?” She looked down at me with piercing eyes, “But, don’t feel sorry for me Marinette. I fully realize the errors of my childish fantasies-I finally see the fucking light.” She twirled around, “And don’t worry. My uncle loves to have shots of me, and now that I’m old enough, he’d LOVE to have me in his life responsibility free!” She walked over to a chimney, “He’d LOVE to do all my shoots now that I’m famous!” Her right fist clenched. “He’d LOVE to ride the coattails of the next, big Parisian model!” Her fist collided with the metal. “He’d LOVE for me to move back to America with him because there are so many fucking companies that would die to have me.” Her fist dented part of it. “But, that’s not what YOU wanted to know.” She turned back to face me.  
“No, how could I be so selfish. Do you want to know his plans? He never really told me them. He wanted Felix because he’s got a huge thing for his Mom and hates Mr. Agreste with a burning passion. That’s about all I know. We were just supposed to steal the miraculouses and Felix. I didn’t know he owns an eighth of Paris, I didn’t know he has estates scattered all over the world, and I didn’t know he would turn on me when he promised…” Her angry voice trailed off. She closed her eyes and turned away from me again. “It doesn’t matter.” Her voice that burned with fiery passion changed eerily cold. “Don’t ask me such intrusive questions again. I think you’re forgetting who’s the better fighter.”

My chest huffed in anger, “You had the upper hand one time. You wouldn’t be so lucky this tie around.”

Abigail sauntered over to the other side of the roof. She flicked out her fan, “Whatever Marinette. I really don’t care.” She leapt out into the open air, “Just stay out of my way.”

I watched her fall with a sneer, “Just stay out of my way.” I mocked. “Who says that?” I crossed my arms feeling a little ashamed. My interrogation didn’t work as well as I hoped. I was supposed to be the all mighty ladybug, but what good is ladybug without Chat Noir? “I wish Adrien was here.”

  
**Felix**

“So, do we focus our attention on Fu or getting the book back?” I threw a stub of a pencil across Marinette's room.

“I think we should focus on finding Adrien,” Tikki answered. “If Hawk Moth is after all the miraculouses then Fu probably hid them before going into hiding. We can't say that Adrien is safe at all.”

“We’ve looked for three weeks. He obviously isn't in Paris.” I picked up another pencil. “I think we should try getting the book back or finding Fu. Macee hasn't had any luck tracking Adrien anyway. We just need to figure out a way to draw Laurent out of hiding and then rescue Adrien, but that requires more time. What do you think Marinette?”

Marinette sat puzzled on the love seat, “I-I think we should...um we should…” She nibbled on her thumb, “Maybe Fu hid a clue on the book?”

“So, the book first, find Fu, save Adrien. That seems pretty logical to me. Maybe Fu knows where Laurent is hiding him?”

Tikki floated between us with a sad expression on her face before it shifted back to happy, “Let’s plan a museum robbery then.”

Mari jaw practically hit the floor, “You never support anything like this!”

“Yeah, that's normally Plagg’s job.” My stomach growled loudly. “Hey, Mari…” I patted my stomach.

Mari's shoulders slumped, “Fine. Let’s go cook something. Again.”

I followed her down the familiar narrow steps, “You're the best Mari.” I smiled. I could always count on her to help. But, I wasn’t quite sure what that entailed. I mean Mari was awesome, a fantastic cook, my heart returned to its familiar flutter when I looked at her, and she still was incredibly adorable. It didn’t mean I still had feelings for her. It was Adrien that loved her. Marinette loved Adrien. That kiss meant nothing now. Our whole crush relationship meant nothing. Marinette belongs with Adrien.

I followed Mari into the small kitchen below trying to replace those conflicting feelings for her with thoughts of Abigail naked. It didn’t work.

  
**Marinette**

I leaned on Felix as we waited for Abigail to join us on a church near the Louvre in the darkness. We had spent the entire evening together and now had a stakeout to conduct. We weren’t attempting to break in tonight, but we did need to scout the area on Macee’s recommendation.

“So, you know school starts in two weeks.” I blurted out of nowhere.

Felix stiffened, “Fuckkk.” he groaned and threw his head back. “I thought we had another month.”

I shook my head, “No.”

“That means we only have two weeks to get Adrien back! Fuck.” Felix pulled away from me and began to pace. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” He clenched his fingers through his light, messy blond hair. His shoulder muscles went taunt under his skin-tight suit and I couldn’t help but eye grope him.

I shouldn't be doing that, I scolded myself. I should be worried about Adrien, but for some reason, I wasn't. Instead, I found myself far more worried about Felix who wasn’t eating or sleeping properly. Maybe it was the fact Adrien was so capable of taking care of himself while Felix acted so immaturely, or it could be that I had him self-destructing in front of me. “We’ll find him.” The words sounded wrong coming from me. “I bet he’s already planning an escape.”

Felix shook his head, “I’m not so sure anymore.” He stared off into the distance. “I’m not so sure about anything these days.”

Funny, I thought, I’m not so sure about anything these days either.

  
**Adrien**

The chateau was quiet. Laurent had gone out somewhere leaving me hopelessly alone. It was like the months after my mother had died and Father never let me leave the manor. I stared into the empty study. It was one of the few rooms I could actually go into, but I already searched most of this room for clues and turned up empty. There wasn’t a lot of things in it: An old globe, an expensive desk, a huge bookcase filled with books and random trinkets, and a couple of leather chairs. There was no computer or maps. His open study was a front.

I walked over to the bookcase and started tearing out books from where I left off last time. Maybe one of these books had a clue as to why Laurent was doing this-the real reason. Reviving my mother couldn’t be the only motivation for him terrorizing Paris.

I flipped through the beige pages of a large book that appeared to be written in Latin? I sighed as hopelessness flooded through me. I really just wanted to check the locked rooms. That would be where the real clues were, but I found myself too afraid to when the opportunity presented itself. I felt like he was always watching me after he left. It made me think he had cameras planted around the manor. I couldn’t find any. I still couldn’t risk it. I needed to gain his trust. Once I had that, I could stop his plans all on my own. I could solve the mystery Felix tried all summer to piece together. I could keep both of them safe from this monster and Laurent would go to jail where he’d never both us again. Then Marinette would realize how much she loves me. She’d see how we belong together and everything will go back to the way it’s supposed to be.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another update I promised posted a day late! Sorry guys
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	36. Felix's Failure and Adrien's Manipulation

**Felix**

It's been seven days. seven days of watching the stupid Louvre, waiting for some sort of clue, searching for Adrien.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

I ignored Macee and continued to tug on my uniform.

“I'm going to tell Marinette and Abigail.” He threatened weakly.

“Macee, shut up.” I pulled up my hood and strapped on my mask.

“You have your first tour at DuPont tomorrow!”

Like that made a difference when my brother was being held by a monster. I walked over to Adrien’s window, “You’re either helping me or I’m leaving you behind, and I swear if I get arrested I will blame everything on you.” I leapt through the air onto his tiny

balcony and shot my grappling hook over to the next roof.

 

Macee scoff rang in my right ear, “Sure. Throw the ten year old under the bus.”

 

My only response was my staggered breathing as I ran across rooftops headed towards the Louvre. I was going to get that damn fucking book if it killed me. I already wasted enough time.

I would find Adrien. I would save him from whatever Hawk Moth was planning. Even if it means I get arrested doing it. It wouldn’t be the first embarrassment I’ve caused to the Agreste name,

and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

 

It didn’t take very long for me to arrive at the roof we scooped out the Louvre. “Macee, are you in or out?”

 

“I’m in, I’m in.” He grumbled, “This is the same thing that happened last time though. You started hiding stuff from your teammates and relying on me even though you only

somewhat realize I’m ten.”

 

I shot my grappling hook across to the roof’s building while my heart pounded violently. I braced myself for a screeching alarm to ring through the night air, but nothing happened.

 

“I got in. You have like ten minutes max to steal that book back.”

 

I let out a loud sigh, “Thanks, and I do realize you’re ten. I only choose to acknowledge it when it suites me like belittling you.” I pulled the trigger and the force pulled my right arm forward so I

could swing through the air like a false Ladybug or Spiderman. I tightened my muscles ready to run up the wall as soon as I closed in, which was happening fast, when Macee hissed in my ear.

 

“Merde!”

 

“Que?” I rasped back running up the wall until I planted my legs against the building and threw myself upwards onto the roof in a very

ungraceful motion. The backs of my thighs throbbed along with my knees as I skidded across the rough rooftop that had bits of random stones spread about.

 

“The system sent an alarm that someone hacked. I’m trying to turn it off.”

 

I press my palms against the stones and lift myself up. I stood on that fairly high, very elegant roof taking in what he told me. There was a part of the roof that contained a window display so it could stream light into a certain exhibit. Strutting over to it, I formed a very stupid plan. “So, it’s not going to really matter if I do this?” I raised my fist and crashed it down the glass watching shards fall. “Fuck!” I winced and jumped through the hole. I could feel my knuckles throbbing under my gloves and probably would start bleeding soon. That pain was nothing compared to the sharp screams my shins made as I landed on my feet before rolling along the smooth, white floor. "Shit, shit. Fuck that was a bad idea." I groan gently shaking out my legs before sitting up. "Even my ass hurts."

 

“YES! That is going to make a difference!” Macee’s words became jumbled mesh of French and what I could only assume was cursing. "I hope you did get hurt!" He shouted before more French ensued.

 

Instead of answering, I sprinted forward with a slight limp. My gripped shoes prevented me from falling over the glass or sliding over the polished marble floors. I kept running through the empty building knowing that the security guards that were here would come to the glass first while I would be all the way on the other side of the building. Well they were anyway, but obviously with all the noise they'd be headed towards me soon. The worst part of outrunning the security guards whom I couldn't see yet was the sensation of my feet wanting to move faster than my legs were able to. "I think-I think I might of fractured something." I winced.

 

“Probably! You’re such an-an idiot!” Macee cried far too loudly.

 

“Ears! Jesus.” I whispered. I continued down the dark maze of hallways until I reached that miraculous exhibit. I bolted through the entrance realizing I probably just set off more alarms. Faster, faster, I rushed over to the glass case holding the book. “So...Should I just break it?” My right, throbbing fist hung in the air awkwardly like someone gave me a high five instead of a fist bump.

 

“No! Why are you breaking everything?”

 

I stood there for a moment, “You know, I’m not sure.” I raised my clawed fist against the translucent barrier, “Maybe I just need to punch something repeatedly till it breaks.” My fist collided with the glass

over and over as I channeled all of that anger-guilt into breaking that stupid glass imagining it was Hawk Moth’s fucking face. Finally it broke, and my hand was really fucked up now too. I would have to carry the book with my left hand.

 

“You’re acting like an ass.”

 

I snatched the book. “You bet I am.” I bolted out of the room as bars clanged to the ground. “I thought you had control of the security system!”

 

Macee took a nasally inhale, “I did till some IDIOT started breaking things.”

 

I scanned the hallway seeing flashlights close in, “Can you at least help me get out?”

 

“I can.” An angry voice hissed from the shadows.

 

“Oh shit, it’s Batman.” I spun around to see a sexy dark figure in the shadows that was exceedingly familiar. “Well unless Bruce Wayne grew some curves I’m gonna say you are not Batman.” I purred obnoxiously

 

“Felix.”

 

“Oh shit, Abigail.” I jumped away from the figure on instinct after getting punched so many times. "Hi, babe. You, uh, gave me a scare." I laughed fighting the fear.

 

She emerged from the shadows with her red hair flowing around her shoulders, “Don’t you ‘oh shit’ me you ass! What the hell do you think you’re doing? We were supposed to do this as a TEAM.” She lunged for my arm.

 

“Okay! Yes I know, and I’m sorry but let’s just get out of here.” I winced at her amazingly strong grip that came with the costume. “Please let go of my bicep, I promise I won’t do it again Babe.”

 

Abigail spun around as the flashlights were almost on us. “This way Jackass.” She growled.

 

“Yes, ma'am.”

 

Marinette

 

“Marinette.” A small slap on my cheek. “Marinette, you need to wake up!” Tikki’s panicked voice rang right in my ear.

 

“What?” I rolled over away from her.

 

“There was a robbery at the Louvre!”

 

"Did you text Felix? He's normally still up." I mumbled pulling the pink bedsheet around me.

 

"Marinette." Tikki pulled one of my pigtails.

 

"D'accord." I sat up with a yawn, “D'accord, spots on Tikki.”

 

**Felix**

 

“Abby!” I chased after. “When-when did you get so much faster than me?” I leaned against a wall huffing a couple blocks away from the Louvre. “Jesus girl.” My right side had a stitch in it

from chasing after her as she fled like a mad woman. “You do realize this-this was like Superman fucking flying-flying ahead of Batman while he runs the fuck after him as fast as he

can.” My head hung low, "So fucking rude. No wonder Batman hates working with him."

 

Abby sorted, “Feathers off.” Abby waved her hand and detransformed into jeans and a black t-shirt. “Do you have regular clothes under that costume?” She raised a red brow before closing

in, “Or will you be streaking across Paris walking me home?” Her full lips pulled back into a smirk as her fingers trailed over my chest.

 

“Aw ghees Abby, I’m not to sure I do.” I murmured lowering my lips to hers. At this moment there was only Abigail with her vanilla scent filling my nostril as I looked forward to kissing her

cupcake chapstick she had on off her lips. Well, that was until a rock hit me in the head. “What the fuck?” I looked up to see a very angry Marinette glaring. “Shit. Mari-”

 

“Save it.” Marinette replied icily. She jumped down from the roof into the alleyway before storming over, “Just hand over the book since you’re too busy,” without giving me time to respond yanked the book out from under

my arm. “Thanks for including me on the mission.” Marinette threw you red yo-yo up to the rooftop before zipping away.

 

“Marinette!” I shouted after her. A horrible twist in my gut ate away at me as Abigail clung to my arm.

 

“You’re not going after her, are you?” She asked bitterly. “If she has a problem with us, that’s her own fault. It’s not like you kissed her or anything.”

 

I turned my face away from hers staring at the rooftop she disappeared from, “Yeah. Right.” My

heart thudded in my chest as Macee whispered in my ear, "You're fucked," before turning off the communicator.

 

**Marinette**

 

“Tikki, I was so stupid!” I threw my pillow across the room. “I never-I never should have trusted

him.” I curled around my knees feeling sorry for myself. “Guys-guys like him don’t go after ugly

fashion designers.”

 

“Marinette!” Tikki buzzed around my ear, “You are not ugly! You are beautiful and amazing and wonderful!” She patted the top of my head.

“So, Felix was with Abigail. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings for you. It’s okay to have feelings for each other. It's okay to be confused between him and Adrien.”

 

I scooted away, “No. If he liked me then he wouldn’t be with her.” I sniffed. "If Adrien really liked me, he wouldn't-" I hiccupped softly unable to finish.

“Marinette, love is complicated. It’s not always straightforward. There are twists and turns, but that’s what makes it so wonderful! You’ll understand someday.”

 

I wrapped my arms around my pink pillow, “I just want Adrien back.”

 

**Adrien**

 

The days-I actually had no idea what day it was. I spent yesterday in the library because Laurent was gone again. He was still gone today. I felt myself slowly fade into panic. I’ve been

lonely in my life, but I’ve never been completely alone for days on end. I could run away. I really could run away. I stared out the window for a solid hour watching the birds in the courtyard twitter

about and stared at the woods that stretched behind it for as far as I could see.

 

I haven’t heard any cars. I haven’t heard any buses, trains, or motorcycles. There was nothing but birds singing. Nothing but the gentle chirping of frogs from the pond. The lack of noise freaked me out more than usual. I ran into the music room and played the piano for a solid two hours just to fill the creepy manor with noise. I felt eyes on my back. I felt like someone was behind me whenever I strayed too far from my familiar areas. I also felt like I was going insane.

 

Today, I couldn’t take it anymore. Two days alone was too much. I threw on my tennis shoes and sprinted into the forest screaming at the top of my lungs. I ran. I ran and ran until I tripped over a root and face planted into a puddle. I propped myself up on my elbows and glanced around only to see the everyday forest foliage of bushes, trees, dying flowers, and animal tracks. There was no path indicated by the thorns and random plants that clung to my jeans yanking at the fabric as if they were trying to keep me trapped in the forest with them.

 

Father would have a meltdown if he saw what I was doing to his designer apparel. His deep voice would have chided me before calling Natalie. I miss his voice.

 

I trudged through the forest till I found a small creek that babbled over an assortment of rocks. I sat there for a long time thinking about Felix, Marinette, Felix and Marinette, thinking about what they

were doing right now, if he had his hands on her, if they were okay, and if they were even still looking for me. I threw small sticks whenever my mind drifted to Felix kissing Marinette right in front of me and I was so stupid! She told me her whole guy drama and I couldn’t piece things together.

 

The sun went down and I sat in the darkness till I decided it was time to return back to the manor. It was dark and I could practically hear ghosts of those who lived before welcoming me back. The manor floor creaked as I stepped inside like small greetings that I didn’t want to receive. My heart pounded at the thought of ghosts, which was an old childhood fear of mine that was suddenly resurfacing with a vengeance.

 

“Adrien?” A light flickered on. Laurent stepped out of the hall into the kitchen wearing his dress clothes like always. His blond hair was slicked back and to the side with his piercing, green eyes bore

into me. “You’re a mess.” His Romanesque nose wrinkled.

 

I nodded, “Yeah.”

 

Laurent sniffed before pulling out a handkerchief. He closed the distance between us raising the white cloth to my face. Hard wipes pulled at my right cheek like my mother always did when I

got too dirty. “You’ll need to bathe. We’re having a guest over tomorrow.” He spoke this in a warm tone like I should be happy.

 

I wasn’t. “Guests?” I asked expecting him to explain.

 

“You’ll be meeting them tomorrow.” Laurent pulled away leaving my cheeks burning at the rough brushing motions. “Did you eat anything today?” He asked.

 

I shook my head unable to remember if I’ve eaten anything.

 

Laurent brushed my messy strands of hair off my forehead, “Why don’t I make you something.”

 

I stared at the floor unable to understand. He wasn’t being nice for no reason. He wasn’t being nice because he loved me. “That sounds agreeable.” I answered without any emotion indicating I found it so. My feet trudged forward towards one of the bathrooms. This man was a monster. He left me alone on purpose and came back to act nice so I would appreciate him.

Even though I knew what he was doing, it was hard to resist the warm feeling in my chest at his caring hands. It was almost like my mother was alive again.

  



	37. Adrien's Guest

**Adrien**

 

The next morning I woke up long before the sun rose. I kept hearing my mom hum a broken melody and stroke my hair like she used to when I had trouble sleeping a long time ago. Except she wasn’t really here.  
I felt like she was in the room with me when she shouldn’t be. The feeling was suffocating and suddenly I wanted to be in the forest again. I’d rather wander around for hours than be stuck in the room my mother grew up in. I slipped out of bed and threw on my clothes.

  
How hard would it be to escape Laurent? Not hard, I mean it’s been a few weeks now. He must trust me to a point. Plus there really wasn’t a reason for me to stay here anymore. I haven’t figured out what he was up to. I only felt like my mind was slipping away from me the longer I stayed isolated in this stupid chateau.

  
The door handle, pulling the damn door open, felt like I was disarming a bomb. I’m sure I could get picked up by someone before Laurent discovered I was gone. It couldn’t be that hard to get away.  
I crept down the creaking hallway trying to move as silently as possible. Every whine the wood gave sounded like a scream ‘he’s leaving,he’s leaving’ as if it were alive. But, it’s not alive. It’s just a house. It’s just an empty, old house. I moved down the stairs. I heard nothing but saw the slanted sunlight streaking across the dark, brown wood. Just a little further to the back door, and then a sprint across the yard into the woods. I sort of knew the way I paved out yesterday. Freedom was so close.

  
I turned the right corner into the kitchen that leads to the back patio when I saw Laurent at the marble counter with his back to me. A face I’ve seen so many times last year sat in front of him with her head hung low like they were in on a secret. “Lila?” I choked fumbling backward into a painting on the otherwise white wall.

A sly smile spread across her face, “Hi Adrien, long time, non?”

 

**Felix**

 

Everything hurt. Everything felt horrible. Why the fuck did I jump from a roof again?

“Felix Frederick Finch!” My mom pounded on my door, “Your butt better be ready to go in dix minutes!”

“D’accord. I’ll be ready in an hour.” I pulled the warm comforter over my head ignoring the loud banging.

“Very funny Felix. Now get up before I drag you out of bed.” She threatened before I heard her heels click down the hallway.  
I half imagined Adrien storming into my room tearing the sheets off of me while Plagg laughed, but they weren’t here when I opened my eyes. The space by my door was empty and my heart sank. One more week till school started and Adrien was still nowhere to be found.

I dragged myself out of bed throwing on some discarded black jeans and a gray t-shirt that laid near the bed. I yanked my phone off the charger then headed downstairs thinking about how I’d apologize to Marinette. She couldn’t stay mad at me forever, but I didn’t know how to make it up to her without giving her the wrong idea about us. I couldn’t be with her. She was Adrien’s girl. Although kissing her might make her feel better...

“Morning Mom, Gabriel.” I kissed mom’s cheek before stuffing a small chunk of avocado toast from her plate into my mouth. It’s creamy flavor burst over my tongue.

“We should probably get going, did you want to join us, Gabriel?” My mom asked over her cup of coffee.

Gabriel smoothed his suit, “No thank you, Iris, I have a meeting to attend.” He stands up from the table and kisses her cheek before turning to me. “I hope you are on your best behavior.”

“Yes, dad,” I smirk watching his eye twitch at the word dad.  
Gabriel said nothing before striding away towards Natalie’s desk.

I bent down to my mom snagging another chunk off her plate, “So, how are you?” I asked between bites.

A sad smile formed on her lips, “I’m fine. How was your night out?”

I shrugged taking one last bite, “It went okay.”

“Did it?” Her tone implied disbelief.

“Well-” I stand up from my crouch next to her, “I didn’t die so it couldn’t have gone that bad.”

My mom rolled her green eyes, “Right, can you do me a favor and not try to kill yourself?”

I rolled my shoulders, “No promises.”

She stood from the table, “I saw the news this morning. You’re lucky the cameras were tampered with.” She pursed her lips watching me hold my side, “And that you didn’t bruise your face.” She turned her back towards.

I rolled my eyes, “Not you too. I get that enough from Gabriel now as it is.”

My mom shrugged, “It’s your job now. You have to take over Adrien’s campaigns and runway deals till everything is back to normal.”

I followed her out the door, “Right. Normal.”

  
The drive to the school was horrible. We passed unfamiliar streets and businesses until we reached a huge, beige building that reminded me of a fancy castle, but loomed more like a prison as I exited the silver car. A fat man in a beard and brown suit stood at the entrance, “Bonjour, Bonjour!” he said too excitedly once he saw my mom. Of course, he was a fanboy. What man his age didn’t fawn over my hot mom?

My mom’s smoothed out her simple, hunter green dress as she approached the staircase he stood on, “Bonjour,” She said with a small smile. The smile she showed to over eager men she’d rather not deal with.

I stuck my hand out to grab the principal’s ripping his hungry gaze from my mother, “Bonjour.” I smiled too eagerly. I watched his owl eyes simmer like he’d heard all the bad things about me from Gabriel beforehand. A knowing look that screamed, ‘Why the fuck did you decide to come to my school and not a juvenile detention center.’

“Bonjour Mr. Agreste. How nice it will be to have you at our school.” His tone implied otherwise. “Why don’t we begin our tour with Felix’s homeroom?” He turned walking beside my mother oddly calm now. I guess the initial shock of seeing an international supermodel had worn off.

The walk was tense considering how I couldn’t speak French very well, so the conversation went like this:  
“Comment était l'école à Chicago?”  
Mom talking so fast it sounded like her tongue was on fire.  
“D’accord, d’accord, pret-”  
More French words, blah, blah, blah.

And suddenly I’m over it, “What a nice school this is but I don’t think I need to be shown around-”

My mom grabs my forearm with a look of such anger it puts Gabriel’s to shame, “Not.Now.” Her jaw plastered tight with a fake smile, but her green eyes screamed ‘I’ll fucking kill you if you try to leave.’

So I was stuck touring my future prison of a school. I hoped Adrien was alright the longer I walked around. It wasn’t the same without him.

 

**Adrien**

 

“You…” My voice trailed off over my crepes. I couldn’t even lift my fork.

Lila pushed back her brown hair, “Well, Laurent had to see if it was true. I knew you were Chat Noir and that Marinette was Ladybug after I was akumatized. I agreed to help him with his plans in exchange for the fox miraculous. Voila, here we are.” Lila gave a dramatic flick of her hand above her plate. “He’s being nice to you, non?” She tilted her head to the left like she already knew the answer.

The word no died in my throat.

“Of course. How could I not treat my own grandson kindly?” Laurent gave a small laugh, but his green eyes were dangerously alight.

I licked my dry lips dying to ask Lila, “Marinette?” Her name rolled off my lips in a hush. I hadn’t dared to say her name in front of Laurent. I’d half hoped he would forget about her.

Lila shrugged, “What about her?” Her manners showed no distaste even though I distinctly remember them hating each other.

“Is she-”

Lila interrupted, “She’s fine. We start school soon.” She snapped her mouth shut. She gulped looking at Laurent, “But, you’ll have more fun here. You won’t have to put up with Chloe for another year.” She forced a laugh.

I said nothing. My fork laid untouched to my right.

Lila grimaced, “Adrien, crepes don’t bite.” She urged playfully, “Just try it.” Her brown eyes looked watery as she watched me gingerly pick up a fork and thrust it into the middle of the crepe. I felt empty as I twirled the fork around massacring the fluffy, brown flesh and shoved a piece into my mouth.

“So, back to what we were discussing.” She shifted forward towards Laurent. “Felix stole the book right out of the museum case.”

Laurent smiled pleased, “I knew he would. Impulsive boy.” He happily shoved a forkful of crepe into his mouth chewing slowly. He spoke after he swallowed, “He’s been dying to know what it all means.”

“What does it mean?” I blurted.

Laurent finally looked at me, “Why not let your brother figure it out and get back to you. After all, you’ll be seeing him soon.”

 

 

**Felix**

  
  
The tour ended unceremoniously as I ran off towards Marinette’s house. “Shit.” I cursed aloud working on what I was going to say. Sorry I was such an asshole? Sorry I didn’t keep you in the loop again like always? Sorry, I want to make out with you and fuck Abigail who’s pretty much my girlfriend at this point? Sorry I still had feelings for you? Sorry I have no fucking idea what I’m doing?

“Fucking shit.” I shook my head shoving the bakery door open. Mr. and Mrs. Dupain gazed at me surprised.

“Felix! How wonderful it is to see you.” Mr. Dupain wrapped a beefy arm around my shoulder shaking me. “Marinette is upstairs with Alya. Take this plate of cookies up to her.” He left me holding a warm plate of chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to whisper fuck, but Mrs. Dupain looked like she’d snap at me for the language.

I slowly climbed the stairs hating every moment. “Marinette, I’m an asshole?” I mumbled aloud, “No. Mari, you knew I was a lustful jerk from the moment you saw me. It’s in my nature.” I threw my head back staring at the ceiling. I should grovel. Yes, just like Miroku when he tried hitting on other girls. Well, I guess he didn’t really grovel. I’ll just let her punch me and get it out of her system. Great. Perfect plan.

I didn’t bother knocking when I opened the door to the apartment. The downstairs was empty, but maybe they were upstairs? I took the narrow stairway just like all the other times I came over and softly lifted the hatch. “Hi, um I bought…” My eyes widened at a shirtless Marinette taking off a red bikini top. Alya sat on the loveseat looking at her phone so I had full view of her breasts as Mar had turned her back to Alya.

Her blue eyes looked misty for a moment like she was confused to see me popping up her stairway holding a plate of her father’s cookies. That quickly faded away as her whole face turned tomato red and she covered both her breasts screaming, “FELIX!”

Alya dropped her phone diving into action in front of Marinette, “What the actual hell Felix! Haven’t you heard of knocking!” She chucked a pink pillow at my face.

“I did knock!” I lied trying to save face as I mentally filed Marinette’s plump breasts away for later.

“Well next time do it harder!” Alya spat.

I placed the plate on the side and held my hands up in defeat, “Okay, okay, I’ll do it harder.” My lip curled fighting a smile. “Just like you promised me the other day in the museum.”

Alya rolled her eyes, “God, you’re such a pervert.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and I couldn’t help it. My sight drifted there. “Eyes up.” She snapped.

“I wasn’t looking anywhere. Relax.” I hoisted myself up into the room as Marinette slipped on a Chat Noir hoodie.  
Alya moved away from guarding Marinette to slipping on a spotted red crew neck sweater.  
“Aw, matching Chat Noir and Ladybug fanwear.” I mocked, “Let me guess, Alya’s idea.” A huge grin crossed my face noticing irritation cross her face.

“Why not go compare your penis too more statues Felix?” She bit back.

I feigned hurt, “Me-ouch Alya, why don’t you-”

Marinette waved her arms upset, “What do you want Felix?”

I shrugged confused, “I came to hang out?” My tone implied that this was normal. Our banter and me storming her apartment was normal, well it had been. It had been normal.

Marinette’s tiny nose twitched as her lips curled into a pout, “Alright, but leave Alya alone.” She announced defiantly.

I made a little bow as I picked up the plate of cookies, “Peace offering?” I thrusted the plate out to them.

Alya narrowed her brown eyes, “For now. I reserve the right to revoke the peace if you end up beating me in Mecha Strike 4.”

With a cocky smile, I said, “And what about you Mari? Are you gonna start hitting me if I end up beating you?”

“Oh, you won’t end up beating me, Felix. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alya became your shoulder to cry on after we play.” Her small lips held together in a pout. She was pissed at me.

“Alright, let’s make a bet Ms. Dupain-Cheng~” I stalked closer, “If I win, you have to admit how great I am for all of Paris to hear.” I grinned ear to ear and gestured for her to name her own prize.

She turned her head thoughtfully, “If I win, I want to see the all of Gabriel’s latest designs.” She stuck her hand out and I closed it in my right. Her hand was just as warm as I remember.

Suddenly my heart started humming, “You’re on.”

 

**Adrien**

 

Laurent had left Lila and me alone in the afternoon while he stayed in his study. I played the piano for her and she informed me about everything that happened.  
“And last night Felix broke into the Louvre to steal back the secret miraculous book,” Lila shrugged her thick mane over her right shoulder. “That’s about all I know. I hadn’t heard that Felix got arrested, had any crazy parties, or auctioned off all your stuff.”

My hands trembled as I played. I nodded trying to focus on the keys and the wobbly Chopin I attempted to play.

“Chloe is going nuts about you being gone through. She’s been posting childhood photos of you two together nonstop-”

“Get me out of here.” I stopped playing unable to take it anymore, “Help us bring Laurent down. I don’t really know what he’s planning.” I plead, “Lila, I’ll give you anything you want. Just help me. Get me out of here. Whatever he promised you is a lie.” I grabbed her hand, “Just look what he did to Abigail. He would have killed her. She would be dead-”

“Abigail is weak and it’s a little insulting to compare me to her.” Lila made no move to free her hand.

“Please don’t do this,” I whispered. I squeezed her hand tighter.

Lila sighed and slid onto the piano bench with me breaking my hold. Her fingers traced the keys where mine had been following the music piece in front of me, “It’s already in motion Adrien. Just follow my lead and we’ll both make it out of this.”

Her body was so warm. She was familiar, and like a thread back to my real life. I leaned my head on her shoulder not caring if I was being too forward and watched her play.

 

**Felix**

 

It was close. So damn close I could taste victory on my tongue just like the chocolate chip cookie until, like the cookie, Marinette snatched it away. My mouth dropped at her power combo that she used to blast a beam of light right through me. “Bullshit!” I dropped the controller.

Marinette laughed kicking me in the side with her bare feet, “Did you really think you could beat me? Your obvious superior in every way?” Her face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen for weeks. Just like it had been when I first came.

I swatted her feet away smiling myself, “Okay, okay. Come over tomorrow and we’ll get the designs out of Gabriel’s office.”

Mari’s eyes sparkled, “Promise?”

I stuck out my pinky, “Promise. Just be over around 10 tomorrow morning.”  
We gazed into each other’s eyes until Alya chucked the controller at my chest.

“Come on Finch, you and me. Round 2.”

I shook my head, “Alright Cesaire, be prepared to lose again.” This had to stay normal. It had to stay friendly. Everything had been decided on that horrible night weeks ago when Laurent had forced Abigail over the edge of the Eiffel Tower. It’s the same thing I had reminded myself so many times. I wasn’t supposed to be with Marinette.  
As I pressed the buttons firing my combo attack, a little voice whispered in my head, what if you’re wrong?  
I blasted Alya with the same light beam combo Marinette used and assured myself I wasn’t. I couldn’t be wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters till I'm finally all caught up! Whoop!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	38. Felix and Marinette's First Day of School

**Felix**

 

School started today. I knew because I dreaded it the entire night before when I patrolled with Abby who excitedly informed me she would be in all my classes and Mari ignored both of us. I thought things were better between us, but I guess not. Well, not with Abby around. I knew Mari didn’t like and or trust her, but Abby’s practically my girlfriend. She’d have to deal with it. Probably. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to officially date her. Everything was really confusing since I walked in on Marinette changing. Plus Adrien was still missing. Then Adrien disappeared before him and Marinette could officially get together. I guess this meant she was technically still single...

A loud knock on my bedroom door jolted me from thinking about Mari topless, “Felix, get ready for school!” My mom shouted.

I covered my eyes with my hands drastically changing my line of thinking. What the fuck were people going to think of me? What were people going to think when I showed up without Adrien? How could I deal with strangers asking me everyday-

“I mean it Felix.” Heels clicked down the hallway ready for the long day to begin.

“Fucking shit.” I sank heavily into the mattress as I forced myself to sit up. Today might be one of the longest days of my life. "At least I don't have to wear heels." Positives Felix, I told myself, just find the positives.

 

**Marinette**

 

“Come on Marinette, you have to put in more effort than that!” Tikki exclaimed.

I shrugged in Felix’s huge blue hoodie he left over here months ago wearing some long, black basketball shorts I had to fold over three times just to keep them from rolling down. The basketball shorts, I was informed by Alya, were Adrien’s. I couldn’t be sure though and asking Felix would bring up the horribly awkward conversation of why I was sleeping kept their clothes. He had seen me wear it to our Louvre trip, but hasn't said anything about it. I wasn't going to be the one to bring up why he should take his hoodie back.

“You slept in that Marinette! Where is your fashionista spirit?” Tikki bopped my messy bun with strands clinging to the back of my neck. Her spotted red body flew around me chattering distaste at my choice of attire.

“Alright,” I sighed defeated. I walked over to my dresser where jeans were folded away. Slowly I slipped out of the silky shorts, and into my favorite jeans that I made last year.

“That’s the spirit Marinette! Don’t you feel better?” Tikki grinned.

I wanted to say yes for her sake. Instead, I just threw on my pink floral shirt and gray blazer before heading downstairs to grab my bag and walk out the front door, “Bye Mamma.” I said softer than I intended. It made me realize that maybe I really didn’t want to talk to anyone today.

My bag bounced against my back as I headed towards the school on foot. It was a quick walk. Not even ten minutes before I arrived at the front of the school to see Felix exiting the silver car that always dropped off Adrien. Felix glared at the school with resentment clearly written across his chiseled face. It really wasn’t fair he was as handsome as Adrien. Maybe more so with his muscles stretching the black t-shirt in the best possible way. His light blond hair was so messy as always, but somehow it made him look completed like he was just born to roll out of your bed every morning. He was just born to be every girl's wet dream they wanted to curl up next to. He was mine for sure. Felix was the guilty pleasure I just couldn't kick. I shouldn't want him. I shouldn't.

His grey eyes scanned the building and students until he turned left and spotted me. “Marinette, ready for our first day of hell?” His wolfish grin shone too bright in the morning sun.

Yes. God must have realized the hell he cast me into when he made the two Agreste boys. “It’ll be fine.” I partially raise my arm like I’m going to give him a punch in the arm or maybe wrap mine around his when she showed up.

Abigail strolls over in her white flowy v-neck shirt that ran just a little too low, blue jeans, and white sandals. Her fiery red hair in loose waves that gave the matching impressions she just rolled out of bed too. Probably Felix’s. Soft, red waves bounced on her shoulders as she neared.

Felix’s eyes drifted over her without an ounce of shame, “Hey.” He ran his left hand through his hair.

Well, I guess she wasn’t in Felix’s bed with that response. I mentally patted myself on the back. I couldn't help feel like maybe I still had a chance. I wanted to scream though. I hated Abigail. Well, maybe not hated, but strongly disliked. “Bonjour,” I greeted her flatly.

“Bonjour Marinette.” She flicked her red hair over her shoulder like she was filming the perfume commercial all over again. The way she tossed her hair dragging Felix under the water. “Ca va?” She asked me bored and obviously uncaring.

Recalling the commercial I cursed ever having existed, I turned to leave. “Ca Va, Ciao Felix.” I patted his bicep before zipping past the redhead. I decided then I did hate her. Hated her for being perfect. Hated her for being a tall, show-stopping redhead, who's everything I want to be.

 

**Felix**

 

“Bonjour, mon petite-amie.” I closed the distance between us purring. My hands were greedy to run over her creamy skin hiding beneath her top. I wanted to cup her breasts and kiss her till she couldn't remember her own name.

Abigail rolled her eyes, “Non Felix.” Her hands wrapped around my wrist, “You’re not getting out of class playing Casanova.” Her green eyes shimmered, “You’re not attractive enough to convince me to ignore my education.”

I flashed a toothy grin, “Wanna bet? In the right light, I can be very, very tempting.” I used her hold against her to pull her closer to me, "The light in my bedroom is the perfect place. I'd hate waste an opportunity to prove you wrong." I lowered my face to hers really wanting to kiss her.

Abigail snorted, “Not today, come on.” She held my hand as we walked up the steps and dropped it once we entered the building.

I had thought people would stare at me when I walked towards my locker, but honestly, I think they were just staring at Abigail. Maybe she was doing it on purpose to make things easier for me. Maybe she was just naturally so hot that people paid attention. Probably the later. “So, do you think my teachers are going to only speak in French?” I winced trying to just keep my focus on her as two Freshman, or really young looking students started pointing.

Abigail must of seen all the girls whispering to our left, “Oui, mon cher.”

Cher meant...dear? I know I’ve said it a couple of times to Marinette jokingly, yet she said it in front of all those girls. A redheaded one in a sweater vest looked particularly interested.

I shuffled behind her realizing she was walking us right to class, “Don’t we get lockers?” I whispered.

“Non.” She said simply. We probably did get lockers. She just didn’t want to take me there.

I rolled my eyes walking three rows back to take the only two seats while the class filled up with random faces. Most of them were guys, which gave me an unbearable amount of anxiety recalling all the horrible school experiences I had trying to make friends. My fingers softly drummed against the pale wood as a teacher with a hawk-like nose began to speak fluent French. Fast French. Painfully fast French.

I glanced at Abigail out of the corner of my eye trying not to panic. She, for the most part, was focusing on the hawk-nosed lab-coated teacher, but her left hand inched towards mine. A small gesture that no one would notice considering how no one was even behind us. Her warm fingers threaded through mine. It was enough. At least for today.

 

**Adrien**

 

Felix would be at school today. Marinette would be in school. All my friends would be along with Lila. A girl playing double agent that they never realized.   
“Was she just a distraction from the start?” I asked with a lunge hoping my fencing sword went through his eye. His green eyes that matched mine. His eyes that matched my mom’s.

His pale blond hair glimmered silver, “What do you think Adrien?” He asked rather sweetly.

I glared, “I think you used her.” I slashed the sword frustrated with fencing. Frustrated with rules, “I think you used her tragedy against her.” I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to hurt him just like he hurt me.

Laurent dodged and deflected efficiently. So efficiently just as father dodged me every time I asked him about my mother for all these years.

“You wanted her to die.” I sneered attempting to force the end into his neck before he shoved me to the ground.

“Only if it meant having you and everything I wanted.” He returned my sneer with a coldness I lacked. Freezing. Probably because he had nothing left inside him.

Our eyes met, “What do you want with Felix?” I needed to know. I had to know. Why did he want my half brother?

Laurent merely pushed his forearm into my throat, “Don’t ask questions you want answers to. Besides, I already promised when you beat me I'd answer your question.” He kept it there for a few moments before shifting. He rolled off of me and easily stood up. “Again Adrien.” He picked up his sword, “That was sloppy.”

 

  
**Felix**

 

We were dismissed by hawk-nose after rotating classes throughout the day but most of the time she stuck with us. She taught all the other grades too similar to my old school. “Well, that went about as well as I thought it would.” I walked along with Abigail. I barely saw Marinette and her friends all day. Only in passing with Alya glaring holes into my head whenever she saw me. I always made sure to give her a passing wink or whistle.

“Well maybe if you listened as well as you flirted you might have learned something.” Abigail’s blood red hair brushed my shoulder as she flipped it. Girls avoided her from what I noticed. At least today with Chloe actively attempting to bump into her or knock her books out of her arms. No mean girl’s moment happened yet, so I guess that was good? Chloe wouldn’t get the shit beaten out of her on the first day of school. That was a good thing. I almost felt bad for Chloe. I had a feeling Abigail would punch her before the year was out. She'd have to get her nose done...redone? I honestly couldn't tell with her.

I bumped my elbow into her accidentally hitting her boob, “You enjoy my flirting more than I do.”

Abigail rolled her eyes, “Do you at least mind getting my sunglasses out of your bag, tiger? I would hate to go blind in your radiance.”

My turn to snort, “Why are your sunglasses in my bag?” I shouldered my bag to let her have free range of it, which apparently she did anyway.

Abigail never said anything but had a feeling it had to do with me walking home with Mari today.

 

**Marinette**

 

“You really don’t like her, huh? Alya watched me glare daggers in Abigail’s direction as she pulled her sunglasses out of HIS bag and walked with him everywhere today. “She’s always talking to him. She doesn’t own Felix. Her sunglasses and whatever else.”

Alya tapped her phone, “You have his sweatshirt.” Her glasses reflected the afternoon sun in her brown eyes.

I clamped my jaw shut. It didn’t change how it made me feel watching her eye me as Felix strolled over with a forced smile on his face like he knew something was wrong with this situation.

“So, how were your classes?” Alya asked begrudgingly.

Felix shrugged his broad shoulders, “Went okay. What are we doing today?” He quickly changed the subject.

I shifted my shoulder bag, “Homework?” I raised an eyebrow watching Felix’s whole face turn into a grimace.

“I guess. I can’t understand any of it and was just going to use google translate anyway.”

I sighed, “Felix, you can’t use google translate. You’ll get everything wrong.”

Felix shook his head, “Well personally I feel victimized in this public setting. I think I am entitled to my own private tutor to clue me in on these things. I should march up to Damacles’s office this very second and demand that he make you my tutor.” He broke out into a silly grin. “Then you can pay your parents back for all the cakes and cookies you let us eat while studying.”

Alya grumbled something under her breath as my heart pounded. Why, why did I have to like both Agreste boys?

  
**Felix**

 

Homework in French was hell. I only had one worksheet that normally would have taken me twenty to thirty minutes to complete took Marinette and I an hour to do. She wanted me to write everything out, but I kept messing up on accents. No Felix, it's like this. No Felix, you can't just bribe me into doing it.

The insanity soon quieted after Alya left, which was when I could get to the real questions I wanted to ask Marinette. “Did you find anything?” I blurted out as soon as Alya had left.

Marinette shifted her off the shoulder sweater she changed into, “Not really.” The pink somehow made her eyes look bluer if that was possible.   
Can’t get distracted, “What do you mean?” I propped myself up on an elbow from her bed that reeked of her strawberry scented perfume.

Marinette shrugged, “A lot of it is written in Mandarin, and I’ve been too scared to ask my mom to help.” She whittled her thumbs, “And there weren’t any clues in there that I could find from Master Fu. It’s basically just the book I gave him months ago.”

I chewed on my lower lip thinking, “Maybe it wasn’t a message from Fu, but from Laurent. Maybe there was something else in the case.”

“Besides the book?”

“Yeah.” I gazed at the floor, “But, I can’t figure out what though? It was so dark and I literally just punched the glass-”

“You punched the glass?” Marinette emphasized punch in horror.

I rolled my neck to look at her, “I was just really angry okay? It’s normal considering the circumstances.”

Marinette crinkled her small nose in dispute, “Right.”

I faced her leaning into her direction, “All I’m saying is we should go back and investigate. We can just go in as Tiger and Ladybug and no one in the Louvre will be the wiser.”

Marinette picked up a small pillow, “Felix-” She cleared her throat, which I knew wasn’t good news, “I think we should distance ourselves from Abigail.” She held up one finger to silence me while the other clutched the pillow, “I just think that she could be a liability and we need to be careful. There’s still information she has on Hawkmoth that she won’t share with us.”

My face burns like she just slapped me, “Do you think I’m an idiot? Of course, I know there’s stuff she hasn’t told us. She’s upset! I would be too! Hawkmoth took her in and spit her out. She thinks nobody wants her and you’re not exactly welcoming even though she helped save your life.”

Mari’s fingers curled into the pillow, “We’ll talk more about it later. Let’s just get to the Louvre before it closes.”

I let out a loud breath, “Fine.”

* * *

 

The Louvre was busier than expected. We didn't exactly make everyone calm down either. I waved and prayed that no one asked me something in French.

Unfortunately, someone did. I stared blankly as her mouth kept moving, but none of the words spilling out made any sense. "Yes, I love you too random citizen." I patted her hand smiling. That normally worked in the movies, right?

"Tiger." Mari's harsh voice ordered. "She was asking if you'd attend her birthday party."

I made finger guns like the coolest dork I knew, "Oui, I'll be there." Going to a kids birthday party....I'm pretty sure Superman did that once or twice. Why not me?

The little girl burst into a big smile and said more stuff I didn't understand.

Mari grabbed my forearm responding in French before dragging me upstairs, "You can't just tell people that! Make those promises." She grumbled. "Even I try not to show up to everyone's birthday party as Ladybug. I'd never get any work done."

I patted Marinette's gloved hand, "Yes mom. I wouldn't want you to run ragged in old age." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we headed up the stairs, "To think, you're already 5,000 years old." I announced loudly.

Marinette scrambled blushing furiously as she threw my arm off and elbowed my ribs, "Stop that! You're so embarrassing." She watched all the people staring at us. Her face grew more red. "Now people are gonna think things."

I nodded and jogged up the last steps, "As long as people stop shipping me with Chat Noir, I'm fine with it." I stopped at the top of the steps seeing a bigger girl with curly brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses. She pointed at me with a huge grin and pointed to her shirt that featured Chat and I surrounded by a heart. "Fucking, fucking damn it." I muttered clasping my hands together. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am not-"

"Straight." Marinette interjecting cover my mouth, "He's totally into guys. In fact, Chat and he are seeing each other." The girl practically foamed at the mouth reaching for her phone while I stood there. Marinette leaned forward and whispered, "They even live together now." The girl clutched her heart and leaned against the wall fanning herself.

Fucking shoot me. I pulled Marinette down a hallway in the opposite direction, "Thanks for that. Maybe you want to out me to Alicio in the meantime too, huh?"

Marinette had an evil look on her face, "I heard something from Alya he'd be back in Paris this week. I think I can let him know you'd like a second date." Mari snapped her gloved fingers together, "That's right! You told him you dressed like this for..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I remember!" She giggled next to my ear, "Your weekend furry orgies." Her giggling increased, "I-I'll make sure to hide the papers from him so he won't connect the dots and figure out this is what you do in your spare time."

I rolled my eyes, "Hardy har har." I couldn't deny Marinette the right to poke fun at me if it made her feel better, which it did. Her cheeks had color to them, her eyes were bright. Maybe she just needed to make fun of me every day?

"Ladybug and Chat...Tiger-" A man with slicked-back red hair emerged from a hallway holding a file of papers. "Will Chat be joining us?" He looked confused as to why I was there.

I nearly forgot I was just the new sidekick. A sidekick with no miraculous. Man, is this how Batman felt in the Justice League when they first started?

"Not today, he's on vacation." Marinette plastered a smile on her face, "We just wanted to see the exhibit for the miraculouses. We feel that something might have been left behind?"

The redhaired man shook his head, "We cleaned that weeks ago, but there was something left behind. We kept it from the public." He handed Mari the folder. His hand shook slightly. The manila folder was held like it might explode.

Mari slowly opened it to reveal a short scrawled note stating: Have you pieced it together? The picture below was of my mom standing beside Laurent. She looked young wearing a fancy ballgown.

A horrified possibility surged through me that I never even thought about. What if Gabriel wasn't my father?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3


	39. Adrien's Call

**Felix**

 

I burst into the dining room ignoring the fact I was still in my gear, “Did you sleep with Laurent?” I shout watching my mom’s face twist in confusion while Gabriel’s looked appalled.

“Why would you ask your mother such a question?” Gabriel demanded.

Feelin ballsy I decided to spit out, “I meant you.”

Gabriel sets his silverware down with a look of such fury I almost wanted to check if I was accidentally wearing my sun’s out gun’s out tank again instead of my crime fighting uniform.

I held my hands up in mock surrender, “Kidding! But, all jokes aside mom.”

Mom’s green eyes met mine, “No, of course not Felix.” Her fancy dress made me think that perhaps I had interrupted a stay at home date between her and Gabe.

“So….” I mentally fished around for the right way to phrase it, “I’m hundred percent Gabriel’s?” I really should have picked a better time to interview my mom. Maybe at a time when Gabriel wasn't sitting right beside her with rage burning in his eyes.

Gabriel used a death glare so frightening I nearly just ran out of the room, “Unfort-”

“Gabriel.” My mom chided in an icy tone. Her oval face tightened with disapproval until she saw Gabriel’s shoulders slump.

The omega death beam that almost came out of his eyes faded, “Yes. You’re mine. You can look at the test results if you’d like.” His grey eyes resumed to their normally steely grey. Gabriel cleared his throat picking up his silverware, “Besides the DNA proof, we happen to look very much alike.”

My mom reached over to place her hand on top of his left, “He’s practically a clone of you. He just has shorter hair.” She ran her thumb over the top of his hand intimately.

Holy. Shit. Did my mom and Gabriel like actually love love each other? I felt the urge to look away as they gazed into each other’s eyes, “Well, I'm gonna change.” I ran out of the dining room into the kitchen. The chef looked at me and started muttering something in French while I grabbed a baguette and put a finger over my lips in a shushing motion to silence any protests. I didn’t need anything heavy weighing down my stomach for what I was about to do.

 

**Adrien**

 

A phone was ringing. A phone! Laurent had left a phone somewhere in his study. I heard it. I heard the soft ringing chimes that were preset on cell phones. I played with the lock. Laurent had been gone for two hours, so who knew how much time I had before he returned. He had left a cellphone.

I leaned into the door using a clothespin trying to pick the lock. I felt the stiff metal click around the pin as I desperately tried to find a way to release it. A credit card is what I needed to force the door open. I didn’t have a credit card on me...just my student I.D.! I raced to my room and snatched up the wallet Laurent had given back to me containing five Euros and my I.D. along with a picture of my mother and me.

This had to work. This had to work. I was going crazy being locked up with Laurent for nearly six weeks. The only break I had to the monotony was Lila’s Earth-shattering visit. I had to warn Felix. I had to warn Marinette. This pushed me forward until I was slipping over the aged wooden floors in my socks. My hands shook as I wiggled the card up and down. It wasn’t working. I tipped the card further in and forced it down.

The lock gave. I elbowed the door in. The scent of old books hit my nose first before I took in the rich mahogany desk sitting directly in front of me. The office was smaller than what I would have expected from Laurent. Simple, clean, vintage globes and paperweights covered the desk. Old maps hung on the walls. It was a little dusty just like everywhere else in the house.

The phone chimed again from the desk. A silver flip phone sat atop the desk. My hands shook as I ended the call. Father, I had to call father. I quickly dialed the number when I heard footsteps on the floor below. Laurent must have just gotten home. My thumbs felt too big for the small buttons; I wished he just had a smartphone instead. I messed up the six pressing it twice and cleared the numbers I had entered to start over.

“Adrien!”

I typed faster. Maybe it would be easier to send a text than a call. Indecision weighed on me. Panic set in and I just clicked the green call button.

“Adrien Agreste, you better not-”

I dove over the desk knocking down a paperweight to slam the office door shut. I pressed my back against it holding the phone to my ear. Please, please, please father answer the phone! It wasn’t that late.

“Who is this? Do you know what hour it-”

I choked back a sob, “F-father!” Laurent started pounding on the door and frantically twisting the knob.

I heard the most emotion pour out of my father’s voice than I had in all 15 years of my life, “Adrien, Adrien where are you? Are you hurt?”

I shook my head feeling stupid for doing it, “No-”

The door opening slapped the back of my head. I stumbled forward dropping the phone. A grey-gloved hand reached in front of me picking it up. I closed my eyes hoping that Father somehow could pinpoint this call. If only I could be so lucky.

“Gabriel, how unpleasant to hear your voice.” Laurent cooly answered shoving his cane into the middle of my spine. “I’m surprised Adrien found my phone. I left it in the open as a little test for him. I had hoped he’d answer my call.” The cane pressed harder. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to move. "Children just never do what you expect them to."

“Adrien! Laurent you fucking ass, let my son go or I swear I’ll tear your entrails out while you’re still breathing.” Father’s angry voice filled the small study. His tone was the same as the day father found out that Felix had to go to the hospital after the club incident.

“Father!” I shouted before Laurent’s foot connected with my ribs. That jerked me from my stupor as I twisted away from him towards a corner. If I could hit him with a heavy enough book…

“It must be hard to hear your child in trouble. Agonizing to know they’re in danger and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Laurent pulled back his jacket revealing a small, black handgun.

My hands clenched around a rather heavy copy of the Odyssey. I’d take my chances on getting shot.

“If you hurt my son again-”

“You’ll what Gabriel? Find me? How successful has that been so far.” He narrowed his green eyes sneering at the ceiling. “You wouldn’t even have a son if it wasn’t for me. You’d have nothing if I hadn’t let you marry Emilie even though you never loved her!”

I dropped the book with a loud thud that vibrated the now still air.

“Adrien! My son, mon bebe-” Father’s tearful voice hardened in an instant, “You better not have hit him, Laurent!”

“Tell him.”

“What?”

“Tell him the truth about his mother. She never died in a car accident. You never married her for love.” Laurent removed the gun from his pocket and clicked the safety off by the phone, “Do it.” He pointed the gun at me.

A gun was directed at me, but the following sentence is what brought me to my knees.

Father almost sounded like he was crying, “Fine Laurent, I never truly loved her. There? Are you satisfied he knows now? Are you satisfied I only married her because I got her pregnant!”

I clutched my hand to my chest wanting to ask why. Wanting to ask why he lied to me about loving her all these years. How he pretended to be happy with her. He pretended to miss her after she died. I covered my mouth with my hand fighting the need to vomit. The truth settled in my stomach like lead. I was the bastard child, not Felix.

“You bastard Laurent!” Father snarled into the phone before his voice went sorrowful again, “Adrien I love you so much. You’re my son. I may not have truly loved your mother. We may have hated each other by the time she passed, but I always loved you. I’m so sorry I never told you sooner.”

Just then a shuffling sounded and a voice rang through the air, “Laurent!”

I stirred, “Felix?” I asked aloud.

“Adrien! Adrien tell us where you are! Laurent, you cock sucking gremlin! Let him go, it’s me you want!” Felix’s voice was so loud Laurent had to angle the phone further away from his ear.

“Felix, always a pleasure dealing with you.” His lip twitched and for some odd reason, he truly seemed amused by Felix. Felix who just called him a cock sucking gremlin?

“Always a displeasure you fucking asshole. Now, do we have a deal? I’ll trade myself for him if you just bring him back.” His voice dropped into a pleading tone as I heard more shuffling. Felix was probably dodging father’s grasp.

Laurent let out a cold laugh, “No. We don’t Felix. He’ll see you very soon though.” Laurent snapped the phone shut and turned to me with renewed mirth in his green eyes, “Adrien-” Laurent dropped the phone to the floor letting it crack. The top of the phone disconnected from the bottom. He picked it back up and began disassembling it further, “You’ve surprised me today. Not necessarily in a bad way.” His pale blond hair bangs bounced free as he moved his head, “It was a wonderful surprise dealing with your brother.” The phone was now a battered mess of parts in his hands, “And now you know part of the truth. Why I despise your father so much.” Laurent sighed and walked over to his desk setting the parts there before spinning on his heels to face me. “It's nothing personal towards you.” His voice filled with warmth and he smiled at me as he stalked towards my corner. “You’re the only good thing he’s ever created.” His gloved hand caressed my cheek, “I won’t force you to join me. But, I will incentivize you.” His thumb ran over my cheekbone the same way I remember my mother touching me when I was sad. How she would wipe away tears from my eyes when I scratched my knees.When I broke my arm.

I let him touch me, “How?” It came out as a soft whisper.

Both gloved hands cupped my face as our matching green eyes met, “Because Adrien, I’ll gladly kill Marinette if you don’t.”

 

**Felix**

 

“God fucking shitbag!” I punched the wall. My knuckles started to sting as I shook my hand out, but I didn’t give a fuck. “Fucking god damn fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I stepped outside Gabriel’s office just to scream into the now empty manor. I lost him. I lost him again. I lost him again!

“Trace that fucking call!” Gabriel roared into his cellphone. “I don’t care if it’s impossible. I want you to trace the call-the number-I don’t give a shit! Get me my son back NOW!”

I stormed around his immaculately clean, modern office with my hands over my face. I wanted to punch the wall again. I wanted to punch Laurent in his goddamn face! I was so angry, I was shaking. So angry that I didn’t even realize I was crying.

Suddenly, Gabriel was in front of me gripping my shoulders, “Never promise that man anything. Especially not yourself!” His nails dug into my skin. His grey eyes were red and puffy like he had been crying too. I never saw his tears.

“It's my fault! It's all my fault.” My shoulders wracked with sobs in a disembodying moment for me. I never cried. I never cried before I came to Paris. I never had anything to lose, “I lost him.” I wiped the tears away on the back of my hand feeling embarrassed for crying in front of Gabriel. Embarrassed for crying at all.

Gabriel did something I never expected. He pulled me into his arms...he hugged me. Through the hug, I felt his own tears soak into my shirt. It should have been awkward. Gabriel made it pretty clear that I was not his favorite son both publically and privately. “I can't lose another son. I won't.”

A weight lifted off my shoulders as his tears leaked through my t-shirt and my tears probably ruined his suit. It was nice to have my first real dad moment with Gabriel. Even if he would probably deny it ever happened.

  
Somehow I ended up stumbling into the kitchen after crying with Gabriel. I headed straight for the wine rack near the cellar entrance and uncorked some dessert wine. “Fuck it.” I started chugging.

The swing door opened and Gabriel wandered in. His glasses were off, his blazer gone, and shirt partially unbuttoned. He slipped his glasses back on just in time to see me chugging down half a bottle of wine. I refused to lower it.

He sighed shuffling towards the wine rack following my lead.

I dropped the bottle, “Really?” I said between breaths.

“Everything is too depressing to be sober.” he uncorked his own wine bottle that I noticed was a white wine. “I never wanted Adrien to know that.”

“That you never loved his mom?”

Gabriel lifted the whole bottle to his lips and drank. His Adam's apple bobbed as he downed the wine faster than I had.

“Ghees, don't show me up,” I muttered before drinking again.

Gabriel lowered his bottle with a grin, “I've had more experience than you. After all, I was raised in Paris. I have wine for blood.”

I snorted, “And look how you turned out.” I raised the bottle to gulp another swig of wine down. It wasn't horrible. I just wanted to be drunk already.

Gabriel raised a brow, “A wealthy man who's in the prime of his life engaged to one of the most beautiful women in the world? A man who has two gorgeous sons to take over his empire.” Gabriel's grin was covered by the bottle again.

I wanted to laugh, “Reel it back in Dad. No need to flatter me.”

Gabriel set his empty wine bottle on the counter behind him. He finished it in five minutes! “I'm going to feel that by the time I reach your mother.” Gabriel tousled his pale blond hair. He leaned against the stainless steel counter so casually that I almost couldn't believe this disheveled man was Gabriel Agreste.

“Probably.” Was all I answered drinking some more. I still had a third of the bottle left. I was going to get sick. That's what I get for not eating dinner, I mentally kicked myself. Note to Felix: Always eat before you drink a bottle of wine by yourself.

Gabriel hiccuped, “I started sleeping with Emile after your mom left. It wasn't unpleasant.” He leaned further against the counter, “But I never really loved her. She was my partner. She was a friend.” He held his hand out and motioned for me to give him my bottle of wine.

I made a face before relinquishing it.

“I was the Le Papillon and she was le paon.” He twisted the wine bottle in his hands rather nervously. “We started at 16. She discovered my identity early on and started...obsessing over me. I only had eyes for your mother though. Iris Finch…” His face got this distant look, “I just knew she was the one. It was more than just her beauty. She was the only one who ever believed in me. She would model my pieces in underground events for nothing. She never asked me to pay her even when she reached supermodel status.” Gabriel closed his eyes like remembering something painful. “And Emilie was just my friend. Honestly, it would be like Chloe and Adrien getting together.” He stared down at the bottle, “We always fought near the end of the relationship. The end of our marriage. She accused me of not loving her. Of being too involved with my career and crime-fighting....it was true. I always denied it. I shouldn't have. If I had let her go… “ Gabriel shook his head finishing the wine. He slicked his hair back into place, “I'm still not drunk enough to talk about it.” Pushing himself off the counter, he spun on his heels while gripping the counter for support. He had a little sway now that was never there.

“I'm-Im going to get Adrien back.” My voice already sounded like it was starting to slur. Shit, I was a lightweight.

Gabriel stopped for a moment shoulders sagging, “Just go spend the night with Abigail. You'll be too drunk to fight properly.”

“Yeah, but just the right drunk enough to do something stupid.” I

“Felix-”

“Gabriel, are you coming to bed?” My mom's voice must have been the siren’s call for him because he immediately headed for the swinging door in a daze. Our conversation was forgotten. Me standing by the wine rack he would regret letting me drink from in the morning forgotten for now.

Couldn't say I blamed him. If I had wasted 17 years missing the love of my life, I wouldn't want to spend a night without them again. I pulled my phone out of my pocket checking for messages. I had one from an unknown number giving me an address. I squeezed my phone a little tighter. Macee, Marinette, Abby, and I were going to have a busy night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! All Caught up :) Can't wait to post the next chapter
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	40. Felix's Plan and Marinette's Competition

**Felix**

 

Gabriel was hundred percent right. I should have just spent the night with Abigail, “Fuck. Shit.” I cursed stumbling over my own two feet.

 

“Maybe you should just stay home?” Macee offered, “It’s not like we know if Hawk Moth is at this address tonight. He could be trying to get you arrested again.”

 

Macee made so much sense, “I love you Maceeee, you’re like my Wade to my Ki-Kim Pobably.” I slurred, “Shit, I meant Possible. I swear I sound worse than I am.” That actually was true. If I was as drunk as I sounded than I wouldn’t be able to keep running over buildings. I’d already thrown up once halfway to our designated meeting place near the Eiffel Tower. I felt more alert after that.

 

Macee’s steady breathing filled my ear by the occasional chewing sound, “So, what did Adrien say anyway?”

 

“My name, I don’t know. He mostly talked to Gabriel.”

 

“Okay, and what did they talk about?”

 

I slowed my jog down, “Well I guess Laurent decided to be an asshole and made Gabriel admit he never loved Mrs. Agreste in front of Adrien.”

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Right? What a dick, anyway I was upstairs and I heard Gabriel screaming so I ran back downstairs mid-costume change and he was shouting at Laurent and I took the phone calling him a gremlin cock sucker and offered to trade Adrien for myself, but Laurent was like haha nice try bitch see ya soon.” I pressed my gloved hand to my mouth concealing a burp. I had to stop again feeling bile rise. Shit. I guess I never was much of a drinker.

 

“You did what!”

 

I spun around to see Abigail in her blue peacock suit and Marinette in her Ladybug uniform on the other side of her. Both had angry faces.

 

“Aw fuck.” Why couldn’t I have just run into Batman?

 

“I can’t believe you’d promise him something like that without telling us!” Abigail stepped forward to shove me. “No one would have known what happened to you! You would have just run off with France’s worst villain to who knows where?”

 

Marinette took a sharp inhale of breath, “I agree with Abigail. You would have put yourself in grave danger. You’re still learning to fight and you don’t have a miraculous.”

 

I rolled my eyes, “I could have kicked Laurent’s ass.” I crossed my arms.

 

Abigail's’ green eyes narrowed. She moved even closer to me and sniffed. The fury on her beautiful face only deepened as she grabbed my arm, “Why do you reek of wine?”

 

I felt my face burn as I lied, “I had a glass or two with Gabriel.”

 

“He’s drunk,” Macee shouted from the earpiece.

 

I flinched knowing Marinette was about to go off. Abigail did the unexpected thing though, “Come on. No more drinking before crime fighting. Let’s just go home.” Her voice was soft like her lips. I really wanted to kiss her.

 

I shook my head, “No can do. Macee has news to break. What’s the deets?” I pulled out my cell phone and put him on speaker. I had a job to do tonight and Abigail was not about to distract me from that.

 

Macee was quiet for a long pause, “One of the most recent addresses that Laurent had been associated with has seen an increasing amount of criminal activity such as drug trafficking and…” His voice trailed off. He coughed and I was sure what he was flustered about.

 

“Prositituation.” I slurred, “That’s what he’s trying to say.”

 

Mari’s jaw dropped and she quickly shut it, but Abigail didn’t seem at all surprised.

 

“I came up with the brilliant plan of dancing in the club tonight-”

Mari waved her hands back and forth, “Wait! What is this place? It’s a club?”

 

I grinned, “It’s a sort of club. A club where people take their clothes off and shake it for cash.”

 

Her face turned as red as her mask, “We can’t-you can’t do that!” She stuttered, “Heroes can’t be seen in one of those places!”

 

I shrugged, “I was just going to go as Felix. I already know what I wanna wear.”

 

Marinette’s face contorted with anger again as she turned to Abigail, “Tell him that’s a stupid plan.” She demanded.

 

Abigail twirled her fan thoughtfully, “It’s not that stupid of a plan. I know Laurent did business there about two years ago when I was with him. Maybe that’s the reason we haven’t been able to find him. Laurent has been hiding in places you-” She gave Marinette the side eye, “Wouldn’t go.”

 

She crossed her red spotted arms, “I don’t like it. I think it’s a stupid plan.”

 

I wagged my finger in her cute face, “But, stupid is as stupid does and everything makes sense when you’re drunk.”

 

**Marinette**

 

“I can’t believe you're encouraging him to do this!” I snapped at Abigail. “He shouldn’t be going into a place like this. He’s an Agreste! Do you know what his dad will do-”

 

Abigail rolled her green eyes in a very Chloe like manner, “Would you relax? No one is going to recognize him. He’s wearing makeup, he has a fake tattoo, and he’s going to be wearing a mask.” She finally looks at me for the first time, “Are you jealous? It’s just a strip club. You aren’t missing much.”

 

My eye twitched in frustration. “I’m not jealous,” I said through clenched teeth. “He just shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be encouraging him to do stupid things like this.” What happens the next time Abigail falls off the Effiel Tower and I'm not there to save either of them! I hadn't forgotten that horrible night. I had to watch Adrien get dragged away by Hawk Moth and Felix almost fall to his death all because of her.

 

Abigail flipped her long, red hair, “Right, Marinette I’m his girlfriend. I’m not his mom. If he wants to strip in front of a group of guys and Alicio then who am I to stop him?”

 

Girlfriend? My heart sank. It sank deep inside myself and fizzled into nothing. I leapt away from her onto a taller roof overlooking the small parking lot. Girlfriend. Did he finally make things official with her or was she just lying again?  My fingers tapped against the roof impatiently. Why couldn't it just be morning already?

 

**Felix**

I was actually pretty sober by the time I finished changing behind the curtain. Pretending to be one of the dancers was way easier than expected. The ratty blue curtain revealed sweaty, toned, bronzed men of all different varieties. At first, I was very confused by the lack of women dancers. It was until Macee calmy whispered in my ear that it was men’s night.

So, I already had on my outfit, nobody recognized me yet, and things were going well so far. Abigail would be seated in the crowd somewhere with the other rich ladies and I would just do a dance, search for Adrien/Laurent, and then leave while Marinette scoped out things from the roof. Perfect plan.

 

**Marinette**

 

I couldn't do it. I couldn't just sit on the roof while Felix danced especially when I saw Alicio saunter in. He waved me down beside his Uber smiling. I gingerly landed in front of the car as it reversed out of the parking lot. What did Alicio want?

 

"So, what is a cute bug like you doing here?" He tilted his head letting his maroon bangs fall loose from his hair tie. He'd dyed it since I last saw him. There were no purple streaks throughout his thick waves, but a warm coppery color. He had his lip piercing in tonight as well as his gauges. A row of silver and black piercings dotted his right ear. He saw me examining him and smirked, "Did you come here to see me?" He took a bold step forward, "I thought a buggaboo like you was only interested in Jaggard Stone." The faintest smell of cigarettes wafted off his leather jacket.

 

I gulped, "Pfft, no I was just passing through and I saw-I mean-" I scratched the back of my neck, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay from that Hawk Moth attack a couple weeks ago."

 

Alicio blinked.

 

"I know I'm a little late. It's been difficult without..."

 

Alicio reached inside his jacket and pulled out a Gauloises cigarette, "Do you mind?"

 

I wrinkled my nose, "I do actually."

 

Alicio shrugged slipping the cigarette back, "I thought a stressful conversation about the missing Chat Noir required a cigarette." His hands laid flat on his side. "I suppose I can make it through."

 

I waved my hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. I have people to vent to. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

 

Alicio nodded, "People to vent to like that Tiger hero you run around with?"

 

I froze. Did he know about Tiger? He saw Felix in that suit!

 

He grinned at my expression, "I'm sorry I'm not as stupid as you'd hoped I'd be-" Alicio leaned forward over me with brilliantly, white teeth flashing in the dark, "Marinette."

 

"Mar-Marinette?" I squeaked fighting the need to run.

 

He touched one of my pigtails, "I do love your hair. It's such a unique shade." Golden brown eyes missed no detail of shock that spread over my face. "We could talk more inside if you'd like." His velvety voice promised, "I can sneak you in~"

 

I bit my bottom lip. Tikki was going to be furious. Another person knew our secret identity, yet I couldn't stop the yes that came flying out of my mouth.

Alicio grinned holding my hand taking us out back behind the dumpster.

"So, how does it work? Do you just-"

 

I took a deep breath, "Tikki, spots off!" A blur of red engulfed me and suddenly I was standing in my regular clothes painfully underdressed for the occasion.

 

"Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed diving for my purse.

 

"I'll explain later," I whispered. I hoped she'd understand. Alicio was not the person whose bad side I'd want to be on. He had 15 million followers on Instagram alone. One rant, one message, one post about who I was and my Ladybug days were over.

 

Alicio's face fell as he looked over my outfit, "You, you wear that when you aren't babysitting?"

 

I crossed my arms over my chest, "There's nothing wrong with what I wear!"

Alicio rolled his eyes, "Alright, well you can't sneak in wearing pink jeans and a blazer-" The words slipped from his mouth like a curse, "Can you transform back and change? You should be able to get to your house and back quickly as a superhero."

 

I rolled my eyes in return, "What? It doesn't look that bad?"

 

Alicio clutched the space above his heart, "Marinette, I must ask a serious question." His thick lashes fluttered under the green neon lights, "Are you blind?"

 

I frowned self-conscious, "Whatever. Fine. I'll be back in 10 minutes and you better still be here!"

 

In exactly twelve minutes I swung back to the club with Alicio standing right by the trash smoking a cigarette. "Welcome back. I can't wait for you to show me-"

 

I tugged my hair free, "Tikki, spots off." I said rather smugly. I was wearing my red and black spotted bodycon dress with cherry red matching heels and the same color on my lips. I didn't have time to do my whole face, but I was pretty satisfied when I looked in the mirror before I left.

 

Alicio crunched his cigarette under his right boot, "Big improvement. Très bien." He purred motioning towards the skuzzy looking door. "I know the owner. I can come through the back all the time." He held out his large hand for me to grab. Delicately, I placed my rather small hand in his.

 

The inside to the back hallway looked like the kind of place drug dealing would happen. Sticky fluid stuck to the bottom of my sole as I walked. I was honestly terrified to even think about what it could be. Alicio never once let go of my hand. He had calluses from playing guitar on his fingertips that I could feel whenever he adjusted his hand. It felt kind of odd comparing it to...Adrien.

 

He opened one last door, letting me walk through first. It was filled with guys of all shapes and sizes. "So, it really is guy night in both senses of the word?" I tried to laugh.

 

Alicio's hand brushed my shoulder all the way down my arm, "Feeling out of place Ladybug?" He stepped to my left side grabbing my hand again.

I shivered not really knowing why Alicio was flirting with me. Was it flirting? Probably not. Maybe Alicio's personality was just like that? "Abigail~" He lead me towards the back table she guarded. Her red hair waving over her left shoulder like she just walked out of a photo shoot. I almost wanted to sketch her. Too bad I hate her so much.

 

Her piercing green eyes locked onto me, "What is she doing here?"

 

Alicio pulled out the stool she was resting her legs on, "She's with me. Why are you here? Would Felix approve of you watching this?" He cocked his right brow with a devious look, "I, of course, wouldn't mind~"

 

Abigail glowered at him, "Save it Ali-c-hoe. You'll never be the one to get into my pants and we're never getting together." Her tight, blue dress was up way too high on her long legs.

 

Alicio let out a dry laugh, "Clever." His face tightened like he was a little peeved. Maybe Felix was right, he wasn't used to people not finding him attractive. "Where is Felix?" Alicio tilted his head upward scanning the room.

 

Abigail hummed something in response choosing to examine a strand of her hair. She was ignoring him and ignoring me. Great. So much for being teammates.

 

"So..." My fingers tapped along the table, "You guys know each other well?"

Both of their gazes fell on me. I squirmed in my seat wishing I hadn't said anything at all.

 

Alicio spoke first, "I ran into Abby when I decided to try my hand at modeling once." He flashed a cold smile at her, "I remember how green her eyes were from crying." Alicio sighed wistfully, "But, sadly I never got to know her well until recently. I only heard rumors here and there."

 

Abigail lifted her drink to her lips in response. Her face neutral.

 

"But, I suppose we are romantic rivals now."

 

I practically choke on my own spit realizing Felix was right. Alicio was into him! I'd have to apologize for not believing him. I just thought Alicio was teasing!

 

“Now, we welcome to the stage, our very own American dancer, the Chicago Cowboy!”

 

Abigail slapped her hand over her mouth, but it did nothing to silence her laughter as Felix strolled out on stage in a black t-shirt that said in bold, blue letters Made in Paris. His lips were drawn back into a small smile under his black cowboy hat he had tilted over part of his face.  

I choked again once he strutted to the middle of the stage and turned around. Midwest Grown was boldly printed along with the fact his-his butt was hanging out! He was in black leather assless chaps! I turned away red-faced while Abigail just kept laughing hitting Alicio’s hand who seemed to have trouble breathing.

 

He leaned on me wheezing, "Miséricorde."

 

**Felix**

 

I did something that resembled a dance routine of the stripping videos I watched while taking shots with the other guys in the back. I must have done something right because people were cheering. I spotted what I thought was a horrified Marinette, hysterically laughing Abigail, and unfortunately, Alicio watching with what looked like...a nosebleed. That's only supposed to happen in Anime, yet I'm the one stuck with the bisexual stalker who gets nosebleeds when he sees me shirtless. Great.  

 

Anyway, after I finished and collected my 70$ Euros, I wandered backstage feeling drunker than I did earlier. I swayed as I looked around. What was I looking for again?

 

"Felix?"

 

I jumped, "Holy shit. Do I have schizophrenia?"

 

"Felix, are you drunk again?"

 

"Macee? I thought I took out my earpiece." I stumbled back towards an unknown area that was poorly lit honestly. "They should-should have lights back here."

 

A small sigh, "Do you see anything like a clue? Do you see Laurent?"

 

I squinted into the darkness of some hallway, "I see nothing." I took another step tripping over something only to feel a hand steady me. "Shit, Batman? Is that you?"

 

"Unfortunately not." Someone chuckled.

 

"It never is." I sigh, "Sorry, I'm really drunk right now. I normally don't drink and/or drink so much."

 

The hand patted my arm, "Right, well Felix, I don't have much time."

 

I let my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I think I saw an old man, "I'm assuming your Master Fu that Marinette has been looking for."

 

"Ah, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a sweet girl. I made the right choice with her. It's not every day you meet someone with a heart like hers."

 

Guilt knotted itself inside me, "Yeah." Blue-eyed Mari. Sweet Mari. Mari who kissed me and still might have feelings for me because I screw up everything. Feelings I might return.

 

"But, it's not every day you meet someone as brave as you either."

 

That interrupted my thoughts, "Right, brave. I think you mean stupid. It's not every day you meet someone willing to run around in a suit created by a budding fifteen-year-old designer."

 

The old man laughed, "Felix, I believe you're another right choice."

 

A weirdly shaped, wooden box was thrusted into my hand, "Look-" I steadied myself by gripping one his shoulders, "I'm sure it's some huge honor to get a miraculous. I just don't not need one." I closed my eyes listening to Macee laugh, "I mean I don't need one. I'm good with my suit and Macee-"

 

"Felix, do you want to stop Hawk Moth?"

 

"Of course-"

 

"Then you need to trust me. You need to believe in yourself and take the next step."

 

His shoulder disappeared, "Wait! Mari needs to talk to you-" I held the box back out, "And-and I don't need this! I don't want this!"

 

"I will find Mari in time. I will find you again as well. But, for now, my Uber is here. Ciao Felix."

 

A door opened and he was gone.

 

"Felix, which miraculous did he give you?" Macee's voice sounded a little higher than normal.

 

"Would you relaf-relax, I'm not replacing you." I stumbled around trying to get back the way I came. "I just need to fissur-figure everything out." My head was already pounding trying to put a plan together. Mari and Abby were gonna flip when I told them what happened. Ugh.

 

**Marinette**

 

Felix stumbled towards us from the back in his regular jeans and his Made in Paris t-shirt on. His father was going to murder him if he saw that. "Felix, how are you doing?" I winced at his sloppy gait. I'd never seen him drunk. It was honestly unnerving to witness.

 

Alicio seemed utterly delighted though, "Lightweight are we?" His right leg was propped up over his left. He twirled a strand of hair around his finger, "We'll have to build up your tolerance next time. Poor Felix inebriated after only, what was it, two shots?"

 

Felix shook out his sweaty bangs, "Shuts up," He grumbled under his breath. "They gave me 4 shots of something." His shoulders slumped forward. His left leg in front of his right, "Mari, I-" He blinked, "He gave me a bosh." Felix clacked his tongue, "Box. He gave me a box."

 

My eyes immediately went to his right fist where he clutched the exact box I had gotten my miraculous in. Master Fu had been here? He was okay?

 

"He said you had a good heart and you do. You have such a good heart." Felix patted the top of my head, "You-You'er so nice. You're a good friend." He lowered himself to wrap his arms around me.

 

He smelled like tequila. His skin burned against mine. His hand moved against my back, "I'll get him back." He whispered. "Everyfi-everything will be okay."

 

I closed my eyes knowing Abby and Alicio were taking in this moment. Analyzing it piece by piece. Who would be the first to realize that we had feelings for each other no matter how many times he called me friend? 

 

**Adrien**

 

 

"You're going to give back my miraculous?" Plagg! I was going to have Plagg back! I missed him so much from his constant whining about cheese to his silky, black fur. 

 

Laurent folded his hands behind his back, "We depart for Paris tonight Adrien, but let me warn you that if you do not follow my directions exactly-" He flashed a cold smile, "Then you will be responsible for the deaths that follow and you'll never see your miraculous again." 

 

I stood there shifting my weight from my right foot to my left. How could I do this? How could I even think about agreeing? 

 

"Do we have a deal Adrien?"

 

I needed a way to get out. I needed my powers back. "Yes." 

 

Laurent triumphantly smiled before digging into his jacket's pocket, "Now, you will have Plagg back. It will just be a similar situation to Abigail's." The ring he revealed was as white as one of my father's suits. "Meaning you won't be able to interact with your kwami since you won't be wearing the true miraculous." He closed the space between us grabbing my right hand. "But, that's alright. You only need me for guidance." He slipped the white ring on my finger. 

 

The metal burned. It felt wrong. All of it felt wrong! "Right," I lied. "I only need you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man who would have thought Alicio would have figured everything out? Anyway, I'm glad to finally be all caught up and I look forward to Adrien reuniting with Marinette and Felix even if it is to fight them. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	41. Felix's Miraculous and Adrien's warning

**Felix**

 

Monday morning, I stared at the dark wooden box with fancy gold scrawl on the top. “It’s fucking weird, why is it so weird?” I tapped it, “Shouldn’t a little cat thing come out by now? It is the Tiger miraculous, right?”

 

Gabriel frowned from Adrien’s bed, “You have to put it on.” 

 

It was weird chilling in Adrien’s room with Gabriel after everything, but who was I to question our unique morning bonding time? “Ugh, but it’s pink dad. I don’t want to be a pink tiger.” I spun in Adrien’s chair. Part of the reason we were in here was due to  Gabriel having my room under construction for some weird reason. Maybe it gave him something to do to take his mind off Adrien. Maybe he just wanted an elaborate excuse for us to meet in his room. Who knows with Gabriel? “And I look like some drunk chick running around Coachella.” I opened the box to reveal the gold bracelet that connects to five rings. “Like what the fuck is this? I thought miraculous jewelry was supposed to be like a ring or earrings not hey I might be open to giving hand jobs in your tent for weed while educating you on the benefits of being vegan.” 

 

Gabriel bristled, “Being picked for a miraculous is an honor, Felix.” He examined it, “And it’s not that obvious. Just wear gloves.” 

 

I sighed shoving the box towards him, “I’m 18 not 85!  I like my black and white suit thank you very much.” Marinette made my suit, I wanted to add but didn’t. That was a detail he didn’t need to know. His son running around playing superhero in a suit made by a 15-year-old and 8-year-old genius who I work with as my partners? Yeah, that would definitely get me grounded. 

 

“Yes, but with the Tiger miraculous you’ll be able to walk through walls supposedly.” His large hand cupped the box. His eyes looked a bit misty. Perhaps remembering his miraculous? His youth?

 

I sat up, “What?” I glanced at the bracelet with renewed interest, “Will I disappear and fly?”

 

Gabriel furrowed his brow, “I believe so?” 

 

“I’ll be much more unique than the other guys?” 

 

His whole face fell, “Is that a reference to something? I swear if it’s another Anime-” 

 

“I know what I have to do!” I stood up. 

 

Gabriel stepped back, “...Yes?” 

 

“I have to stop all the ghosts that are coming through!” 

 

“Merde.” Gabriel spun on his heels away from me. 

 

“I’m here to fight for me and you! Gotta catch them all ‘cause I’m Danny Phantom-” 

 

Gabriel leaned his head on Adrien’s wall a few paces away, “For the love of God Felix, please be serious for five minutes.” 

 

I leaned my head back lowering myself in the chair, “Alright, Alright. I just don’t think this is the right miraculous choice for me.” I press the bottom of my bare foot on the floor spinning, “Just because some Asian man in a red Hawaiian shirt pops up in the strip club I went to saying he’s the guardian of the miraculouses doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Master Fu.” I rubbed my forehead trying to remember our conversation. It was blurry. I shouldn’t have taken four shots before strutting on stage. “He said something about me being or not being the right choice? Marinette is the best choice or something.” I closed my eyes trying to concentrate, “Something about how a miraculous user can never kill someone or they forever forfeit the rights of their miraculous?” I opened my eyes expecting Gabriel to nod his head in agreement. 

 

Instead, his whole sour face twisted, “And just why the hell was he warning my son not to murder people?” His calculating grey eyes focused on me, “Have you ever felt like you might...do something like that?” 

 

“What the fuck? No! Of course not, why the hell would I kill someone?” 

 

Gabriel just looked angrier, “When I get my hands on that man-” He started spouting what I only assumed were curses in French, “And don’t put that on yet! I don’t even know for sure what it does.” He pointed to the box looking more frustrated. 

 

The box sat on Adrien’s desk with his mother’s face plastered as all his wallscreens of his computer. I should change that. For some reason, her smile-her face bothered me. The way she clutched Adrien really irked me the wrong way. “So, I won’t get to be Danny Phantom?” I redirect my thoughts abruptly. “And I’m honestly not sure he said that. It could have been the anime I was watching early this morning.” Last night was a huge blur. I remembered bits and pieces like a foggy dream. Other parts like a nightmare with Alicio’s nosebleed and his dirty whispers into my ear as he helped me into the uber he took with me. It was honestly the hardest anyone had ever tried to have sex with me. I had to give the guy kudos for that. I don’t think anyone had ever been that attracted to me who was so into superhero roleplay. 

 

Gabriel went back to pacing. He stroked his chin like he was deciding whether I should become the miraculous holder or if I should just keep running around in my suit with the possibility I might fall to my death and die. Perhaps he was just calculating the cost of the new equipment I was eyeing in his head. 

 

“Dad?”

That seemed to snap Gabriel out of his own head. He blinked at me behind his fashionable glasses that probably cost more than my phone, “It’s safer than you running around in your suit. It also saves me the trouble of making you a new one.” 

 

I threw my arms up, “But, but it’s pink! Dad, I don’t want to look like I give hang jobs at Coachella behind Bella Thorne's tent.” 

 

Gabriel stormed over to the desk and snatched the box, “Just try it once. If you hate it then we’ll search for Master Fu and return it. I’ll even make you a new suit. It’s not like there was the option to give you the dragon miraculous-”

 

My jaw dropped, “I could have been a fucking dragon?” I cross my arms pissed, “Just my fucking luck.” I begrudgingly let Gabriel assist me in putting on the bracelet. A bright burst of pink followed by a weird pink Plagg look-alike appeared out of materialized out of the box. It rubbed it’s huge, pinkish eyes then stared at me. 

“So, you’re my new idiot?” Her furry brow lifted. She seemed concerned by my hair running a paw through it. “You’re so pale-” 

 

Her tiny, sweet voice took me back, “I guess?” I watched the feminine version of Plagg inspect me. 

 

“You’re a pretty idiot for a human although-” Her tiny paw bumped my forehead, “You don’t seem to have too much going on upstairs at the moment.” 

 

I glared, “Haha, first time out of the box in what? Three hundred years and suddenly you’re a comedian.” My left hand hovered over my right, “I’d happily take this off and put it back. Maybe you’ll only have to wait two hundred years this time-”

 

She didn’t seem to bulk at my bluff, “Well you already broke rule one by exposing me to your father. That seems like the sort of thing an idiot would do.” Her big eyes held mine with a surprising amount of pull, “Are you going to tell your mother too? Your girlfriend? Your other girlfriend-” 

 

“Watch it.”

 

“Oh, or maybe your boyfriend from the club last night! The one who got the nosebleed watching you-” 

 

Gabriel’s hand gripped my shoulder, “What is it talking about?” 

 

Oh. Shit. “How do you know any of this!”

 

“You!" Gabriel gripped the back of my neck, "You stripped last night! I thought you just attended it as a guest! Your mother had one rule for you!”

 

“Don’t become a stripper unless I flunk out of college?” 

 

Gabriel growled not letting go, “I’m serious.” 

 

“So am I! I swore that was the rule. MOM!” I shouted flinching against Gabriel's cold hand.

 

The tiger kwami looked pissed, “You can’t expose me to anyone you want Felix.” She pulled back her lips to bare her fangs, “Otherwise we won’t be getting along.” 

 

I held my hands up feeling a lot like Chris Pratt taking control over from the Raptors, “Hang on now guys. Let’s just calm down-”

 

Gabriel pointed a finger at the kwami, “And just what do you do and how do you know so much about my foolhardy son?” 

 

She crossed her pudgy arms then tilted her oversized head, “I don’t see you wearing my miraculous. Why do I have to answer to you?” 

 

“I never remember Nooru being so mouthy.” 

 

“That whiny-”

 

The door opened, “Felix, what’s the matter?” My mom struts in with her green sundress’s trail willowing behind her. I wasn’t sure if my mom just walked like this naturally or if she just imagined she was always on a catwalk. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for school?"

 

“Great, thanks, Felix.” She crossed her arms while narrowing her pink eyes at me. 

 

My mom slipped beside Gabriel swiftly, and honestly, for the first time, I realized she belonged there. They complemented each other. “So, you got a miraculous?” She asked while grabbing Gabriel’s hand whose visible tension vanished the minute he twined his fingers with hers. "That's great and all sweety, but you really need to get to school." 

 

Gabriel turned to her with a loud sigh, “He was given the Tiger miraculous last night while dancing at a strip club. On men’s night.” 

 

My mom’s green eyes widened, “He what?” 

 

“Now mom, mother, mama, I had to! It was for the mission-”

 

“The mission required you getting naked in front of a bunch of men?”

 

I clucked my tongue feeling my face burn, “It required me getting partially naked in front of some random dudes and Alicio. He doesn’t count. He already stalks me. He knows my favorite color and the fact I go to furry orgies on the weekends.” 

 

My mom gaped like she couldn’t believe a word I was saying, “I’m sorry, but what does a gay strip club have to do with getting Adrien back?” 

 

I scratch the back of my neck, “It’s complicated. I guess Laurent was spotted there according to my sources, so I obviously went and investigated by acting the part of an American stripper. I was the hot commodity for the night. Made 70 Euros. No biggie.” 

 

My mom rolled her eyes, “Just please don’t do it again. I know you’re working very hard to get Adrien back, but you can’t just do stupid things like that and expect it to pan out.” 

 

“But, it did! Things generally do for me. It’s how I’ve lived my whole life and I've only gotten arrested once."

 

My mom waved away my tiger kwami who was glaring at her, “Laurent wouldn’t be in a gay strip club anyway. It obviously would have been a trap.” Mom pulled Gabriel towards the door whispering something. 

 

He looked between us, “Your mother is right. Let me know when you get any more leads.” His face fell as he followed my mom out of the room gripping her hand like it was the only thing keeping him from drowning. 

 

Maybe I was being shitty and irresponsible. Somedays though, it felt like I was the only one who cared he was missing.

 

**Marinette**

 

“He gave you what!” I shrieked seeing the magenta tiger growl from Felix’s broad shoulder. I knew he got a miraculous. I wasn’t expecting the tiger miraculous.

 

Felix shrugged, “I know. I don’t know why he gave her to me either. I’m kind of used to her now though. I like her witty commentary.” He scratched the back of her head with his pinky finger, “Plus I’ve never had a pet before.” 

Her pink eyes narrowed into slits, “I’m not your pet Felix Agreste.” Her top fangs jutted out from beneath her lips when she spotted Tikki. 

 

“Hello-”

 

Felix interjected, “I’ve named her Rikki. Tikki met Rikki, Rikki met Tikki.” His pinky finger scratched the space under her chin making her let out a small pur, “Her real name was just weird. Plus, now it’s easier to remember both of our kwami names.” 

 

I observed their behavior mildly impressed, “Okay, if Rikki prefers your nickname, then we’ll call her that.” I bit my lower lip, “That’s actually kind of impressive Felix. I couldn’t get used to Tikki for a whole month and here you are-” Excelling as always is what I wanted to add. 

 

“Eh, she warmed up to me like any cat. You just have to know where to scratch them. Plus, I obviously have a charming personality. It doesn’t take long for the ladies to warm up to me anyway-”

 

Rikki snorted, “Right. That’s why you’re having so many girl-

 

“Friends! Friends who are girls that I enjoy being around.” Felix glared at his kwami retracting his hand. “Anyway Marinette, besides Fu getting an Uber and ditching us without answering any fucking questions besides leaving behind the cryptic message of don’t kill anyone, what else do we have to go over?” 

 

I shrugged, “Your powers might be a good place to start.” 

 

Felix pressed his lips into a line, “How about our discussion on Abigail and why you hate her.” His normally warm grey eyes went hard. 

 

That wasn’t the particular direction I wanted to take our afternoon lunch in, “Maybe after school? It’s a long story.” I started to head to the trap door, but Felix placed his foot over the door. 

 

“Give me a summary version of it.” 

 

I nibbled at my bottom lip not looking up at him, “I feel like she’s lying. I think she knows where Adrien is and-and I feel like…” I gulped not knowing the right way to say it, “I think she’s using you.” 

 

“What?” Felix backed up, “Abby-” He shook his head, “Abigail wouldn’t do that.” 

 

“Yes! She would, she was the bad guy up till 6 weeks ago!” I folded my hands not sure where to put them. Should I comfort him, should I just-

 

Felix’s eyes met mine even though he had backed himself up to my vanity, “She was being lied to. She just wanted her parents back Marinette. She wanted a second chance and I don’t fault her for it.” His shoulders shook under his t-shirt, “Unless there’s another reason you don’t like her?” 

 

“Another reason?” I practically squeaked. I could tell him. I should tell him. "I’m just trying to be a good...a good friend.” 

He was quiet for a long moment, “You already are a good friend Marinette.” 

Why was that answer like a suckerpunch to the heart?

 

**Adrien**

 

Paris. I was in Paris watching cars whiz by from the dirty apartment window. The afternoon sun glittered off the roofs, cars, and a fire escape that sat directly in front of me. I only had five more hours. Five more hours before I’d have to go out there and fight my friends with Lila. Five more hours before I would find out what Laurent wanted me to steal. Five more hours before I could face Marinette and finally kiss her. 

 

I could only hope she will forgive me.

 

Felix

 

“School is the worst,” I grumbled following Abigail. Unsurprisingly, she kept Chloe at bay with her glares and threats. It was nice not having to deal with her. Since Adrien was gone, I was certain she’d just try clinging to me and boy oh boy. I was not cinnamon roll Adrien who’d put up with her shit. Broken family or not, it didn’t excuse her shitty personality. 

 

“It’s not so bad. It beats homeschooling.”

 

“Laurent had you homeschooled?” 

 

Abigail ignored my question. She just squeezed my hand leading me to her locker. I knew we had lockers! 

 

“So, Abby baby, I had a question for you.” I leaned against the locker opposite to hers. I didn’t wait for her to respond before throwing out the question of, “So, why don’t you like Marinette?” 

 

Her red hair gracefully curled around her cheek falling over her left shoulder, “She doesn’t like me, Felix. That’s the problem.” 

 

“I get the feeling dislike goes both ways.” 

 

Abigail clacked her tongue as she slipped some sunflower seeds in her book bag to her crybaby of a kwami. Ugh, he’s the worst. Whenever I go over he’s always trying to ruin the mood with his tears. He even ruined THE mood the other night. My newfound vow of chastity was starting to bother me and that kwami was indirectly cockblocking me.

 

“Come on, just tell me. I won’t get mad.” 

 

“Look, Felix, some girls just naturally don’t like other girls. I don’t like Marinette and she doesn’t like me. There’s not much else to that except the fact she has a crush on you.” 

 

I nearly fell over, “W-Whattt?” 

 

She slammed her locker door shut, “I’m not blind Felix. She has an immature crush on you and you-” Her index finger poked my chest, “Need to explain to her it’s never going to go anywhere.” 

 

I feigned innocence making my eyes go wide, “Me?” My stomach clenched at the thought of explaining my possible attraction to her that I knew I could never act on again. The other day I even wanted to kiss her again just to see if there was still something there. Nope! Bad, bad idea! Abby didn't even know I actually kissed her in the first place. If she found out now...

 

Abby just grabbed my hand again leading me out of the school past all the other students I didn’t know. Some stared, most just ignored us. It was honestly the least amount of attention I’d ever gotten. I half wondered why. 

 

**Marinette**

 

The whole day I felt like someone was watching me. I scanned the roofs and my classmates but everything seemed...normal. Felix walked me home babbling about Star vs. The Forces of Evil compared to Sailor Moon when I spotted a white figure on a roof in the distance. 

 

I held out my arm motioning for Felix to stop, “Someone is watching us.” 

 

Felix looked around everywhere but the roof the person was on. “Where?” 

I rolled my eyes pointing to the roof, but they already disappeared. 

 

“Did you recognize them? It’s not an akuma, is it?” Felix stepped closer to me protectively. 

 

His woodsy cologne filled my nose, “I’m not sure.” I managed to get out trying to ignore my weakening knees. “Let’s just get to my place before anything happens.” 

 

**Adrien**

 

Felix. Marinette. She saw me. She saw me and she didn't come for me. My hand shook holding the white baton. I shouldn't have snuck out early. I did. I couldn't stand to be locked up a moment longer. I wished I had stayed. She didn't even recognize me...

 

"I told you Marinette was doing fine." 

 

I turned to see Lila strutting towards me, "I know." Of course, she was doing fine. I shouldn't have expected anything different. Felix and father were both looking after her. Laurent swore he wouldn't hurt her if I did everything he said. 

 

She had her own staff in hand, "Are you good to go?" She raised a brow above her mask. 

 

I nodded. "Let's get it over with." 

 

**Felix**

 

Something felt wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was definitely wrong. "Rikki, you feel that?" 

 

Her pink eyes glazed over, "I've felt Plagg near us all day." 

 

"Plagg?" Marinette asked confused. 

 

"Adrien's kwami, and why do I feel like there's a but at the end of that sentence Rikki."

 

"He feels like he's in pain." 

 

**Adrien**

 

"I don't know why Laurent is having us break into your father's own business?" Lila sighed into her earpiece, "Honestly if Laurent was such an amazing designer, like, shouldn't he just create his own pieces and get back in the game?" 

 

I crawled over the ceiling trying to ignore her babbling even though it's everything I'd been wondering too. I'd come to the conclusion he wanted something that would hurt father. Something like his own son stealing from him. 

 

The safe was my birthday, which father never changed, and it sat in his Agreste office on the top floor that he never visited. He preferred his office at home closer to me. After crawling through this stuff office building crawling with designers and office workers, I couldn't say I blamed him. It seemed like a very stressful environment. 

 

I dropped down from the ceiling no one even spotted me on. My white suit blended in perfectly. I was disappointed that no one saw me. 

 

"Are you there?" Lila asked.

 

"Yes." I walked over to the painting of our family from when I was only six years old. They looked so happy. It was a lie. They weren't happy and father never loved her. She was his second choice. I was his second choice. He would have been Felix's actual father. Felix would have been getting in trouble with Parisian police instead of Chicago if it wasn't for my mother. If it wasn't for Laurent. I couldn't prove that it was Laurent's fault yet, but I had a feeling it was. 

 

"Great, grab it and get out. I have a feeling they'll start patrolling soon and I'm not about to fight them all on my own."

 

I punched in my birthday. I listened to the loud click of the vault lock before it swung open. Father had books of designs from every age. New, old, all of it piled on top of each other. It was extremely disorganized by father's standards. I shuffled papers together into a folder and unzipped my suit. I placed the manila folder on my chest then zipped back up. I had it. All my father's designs. Every last one that was important enough to keep in this vault. Why this vault? Why not the one at home? 

 

"Alright, come on out and play kitty." 

 

I opened a window sparing one last look at my father's abandoned desk. No pictures of us sat on it. Nothing that designated this was my father's office beside the lie of a painting and his name on the plate outside the door. Everything was empty. I was the reason for it.

 

**Felix**

 

"Why are you in your suit?" Rikki snarled from inside my hood, "You have me now." 

 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah and I also have Macee breathing in my ear and Father breathing down my neck. I'm investigating a break-in, not battling Hawk Moth." Also I just really loved my suit. I was not ready to become the pink Tiger of Paris. "So take a number to get in line for bitch at Felix time."

 

"His suit is fine! He should be wearing it under his miraculous anyway. He's the only one who can battle on his own." Macee argued loudly into my eardrum for Rikki to hear. He really didn't like her. She really didn't like him either.

 

I winced, "Inside voices guys. I'd like to still have my hearing at 80." I ran over a couple roofs till I made it into some classy modern section of Paris. The Agreste building was moderately tall with white bricks the seamlessly blended together. "Of course Gabriel would have a fancy office building he never fucking uses." I pinched the bridge of my nose adjusting my mask. "Why the fuck would he go to his own office when he could be at home doing my mom and yelling at Natalie?" I raised my grappling hook and fired. I felt the line go taunt before I retracted sailing across the street. I made it about halfway before I spotted an orange figure on the Agreste roof with something extremely reflective in her hand. 

 

"Oh shit." 

 

**Adrien**

 

"Let her do it." Laurent hissed in my ear, "Cut the line." 

 

"I'll do one better," Lila pulled the cable from the nook Felix had wedged it. The metal clang once against the roof before it zipped through the air back towards Felix who was now free falling into the street. 

 

I nervously jogged over to the street. I had to save him. I had to save him! I couldn't just let Felix die!

 

"Wait, let me see if he has it." Laurent harshly commanded.

 

"Has what! He's going to die from this fall!" I bent my knees already halfway to jumping. My heart raced. I had to do it no matter the consequences, "You promised me you wouldn't kill anyone!" I accused.

 

"Wait."

 

I shook my head ready to jump when a pink light engulfed Felix. Pink? Light? It looked like a miraculous light.  

 

**Felix**

 

"God, this is so fucking weird." I landed on a bus and dove for the sidewalk. I stretched my legs that were covered in a black suit. "God, what the fuck? It's warm Macee. Why is the suit warm?" I glanced down at my chest, "Well at least it looks more red than pink. That's cool I guess." I counted the six reddish pink strips that encased my chest along my ribs. It honestly matched my other suit besides the color.

 

"Aw, pretty kitty survived the fall." An orange fox girl jumped down from the roof with a long staff.

 

My claws lengthened the closer she got unconsciously, "Yeah, no thanks to you. Purrser to meet your a-cat-ence though." I watched the girls slender hips rock back and forth before I kicked myself. Bad Felix! 

 

"That pun made my ears bleed." Macee snorted, "And who's the orange fox?"

 

I stopped myself from agreeing with Macee before she answered. 

 

"I am Volpina and this is Chat Blac, although I believe you already know him." 

 

A white figure landed beside her looking at me with huge, green cat eyes. I stepped back feeling like these past six and a half weeks crash into me. "Adrien, what did he do to you?" 

 

Adrien extended his baton looking me dead in the eyes, "Run. Please." He raises his now white baton, "Don't make me fight you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I just leave everything on a cliff hanger


End file.
